As o'er Asteria's fields I rove (James Oswald)

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• (Posted 2023-09-12)  CPDL #75334: 

Editor: Christopher Shaw (submitted 2023-09-12).   Score information: A4, 3 pages, 319 kB   Copyright: CC BY SA

Edition notes: Please click on the link for preview/playback/PDF download.

General Information

Title: As o'er Asteria's fields I rove
Composer: James Oswald
Lyricist: William Somerville^{create page}
Number of voices: 1v   Voicing: solo high
Genre: Secular, Aria

Language: English
Instruments: Basso continuo, Violin

First published: 1758
Description: Titled The Radiant Queen. Written for performance at Ranelagh pleasure gardens and sung by Catherine (Kitty) Fourmantel.

Original text and translations

English text

As o'er Asteria's fields I rove,
The blissful seat of peace and love,
Ten thousand beauties round me rise,
And mingle pleasure with surprise.

By nature blest in ev'ry part,
Ador'd with ev'ry grace of art,
The rising scene of blooming joys
Each raptur'd sense at once employs.

But when I view the radiant queen,
Who form'd this fair enchanted scene,
Pardon ye grots, ye crystal floods,
Ye breathing flow'rs, ye shady woods.

Your coolness now no more invites,
No more your murm'ring stream delights;
Your sweets decay, your verdure flown;
My soul's intent on her alone.