Thomas Ford (composer)

I did but see her passing by,
And yet I love her till I die.

Thomas Ford (c. 1580 – buried 17 November 1648) was an English composer, musician and poet.

Quotes

• There is a Lady sweet and kind,
  Was never face so pleased my mind;
  I did but see her passing by,
  And yet I love her till I die.
  • "There is a Lady sweet and kind", st. 1, in Music of Sundry Kinds (1607); ll. 3–4 applied by Sir Robert Menzies to Queen Elizabeth II

• Her free behaviour, winning looks
  Will make a Lawyer burn his books;
  I touched her not, alas! not I,
  And yet I love her till I die.
  • "There is a Lady sweet and kind", st. 3, in Music of Sundry Kinds (1607)

• Since first I saw your face I resolved to honour and renown ye,
  If now I be disdained I wish my heart had never known ye.
  What? I that loved and you that liked shall we begin to wrangle?
  No, no no, my heart is fast, and cannot disentangle.
  • "Since first I saw your face", st. 1, in Music of Sundry Kinds (1607)

• Where beauty moves, and wit delights and signs of kindness bind me
  There, O there! where’er I go I’ll leave my heart behind me.
  • "Since first I saw your face", st. 3, in Music of Sundry Kinds (1607)

• Yet if his majesty our sovereign lord
  Should of his own accord
  Friendly himself invite,
  And say "I'll be your guest to-morrow night."
  How should we stir ourselves, call and command
  All hands to work! Let no man idle stand. [...]
  For 'tis a duteous thing
  To show all honour to an earthly king, [...]
  But at the coming of the King of Heaven
  All's set at six and seven:
  We wallow in our sin,
  Christ cannot find a chamber in the inn.
  We entertain him always like a stranger,
  And as at first still lodge him in the manger.
  • "Yet if His Majesty Our Sovereign Lord" (Christ Church MS. 736–8), first published by A. H. Bullen, Lyrics from the Song Books of the Elizabethan Age (1888)

External links

• "Thomas Ford", Choral Public Domain Library (23 October 2022)
• "Texts to Art Songs and Choral Works by T. Ford", The LiederNet Archive (10 May 2023)
• "Ford, Thomas (1580–1648)", Representative Poetry Online (University of Toronto, 1996–2000)