This edition was prepared by Michael Gray — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Canst thou, O Cruel!
Staff Notation • Secular, Partsongs
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Canst thou, O Cruel! by Michael Gray — Lyrics
Canst thou, O cruel! say I love thee not,
When I against myself with thee partake?
Do I not think on thee, when I forgot
Am of myself, all tyrant, for thy sake?
Who hateth thee that I do call my friend?
On whom frown'st thou that I do fawn upon?
Nay, if thou lour'st on me, do I not spend
revenge upon myself with present moan?
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About Canst thou, O Cruel!
Michael Gray sets Shakespeare's Sonnet CXLIX to music in this SAB setting. The text, a dramatic monologue from the perspective of a lover addressing their beloved, explores the paradox of devotion. The speaker questions how their beloved can doubt their love, listing the ways they have sacrificed their own well-being and self-respect for the sake of this unrequited or perhaps scorned affection. The poem culminates in a poignant acknowledgement that the beloved favours those who can 'see' them, implying the speaker's own perceived blindness to their faults or perhaps a willing submission to the beloved's capricious nature. This is a compelling secular part-song for mixed voices.
