This edition was prepared by David Fraser — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Daphne was not so chaste as she was changing
Staff Notation • Secular, Partsongs
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2 editions of this piece
Different typesettings and voicings of the same work. This page shows the main edition; the others are below.
Solo medium · Brian Russell
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Daphne was not so chaste as she was changing by John Dowland — Lyrics
Daphne was not so chaste as she was changing,
Soon begun Love with hate estranging:
He that to day triumphs with favors graced,
fals before night with scornes defaced:
Yet is thy beautie fainde, and ev’rie one desires,
still the false light of thy traiterous fires.
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About Daphne was not so chaste as she was changing
This solo song from John Dowland sets a text exploring the fleeting nature of beauty and the deceptive allure of love. The lyrics contrast true beauty, which endures and grows, with the fickle affections often mistaken for love. Dowland's setting, for solo medium voice, captures the intellectual and emotional subtleties of the Renaissance text. The music navigates the themes of constancy versus inconstancy, perhaps reflecting the poetic arguments through its melodic and harmonic contours. It is a secular song reflecting the poetic and musical concerns of its era.
