This edition was prepared by James Gibb — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
If My Complaints Could Passions move
Staff Notation • Secular, Lute songs
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3 editions of this piece
Different typesettings and voicings of the same work. This page shows the main edition; the others are below.
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If My Complaints Could Passions move by John Dowland — Lyrics
If my complaints could passions move,
Or make Love see wherein I suffer wrong:
My passions were enough to prove,
That my despairs had govern'd me too long.
O Love, I live and die in thee,
Thy grief in my deep sighs still speaks:
Thy wounds do freshly bleed in me,
My heart for thy unkindness breaks:
Yet thou dost hope when I despair,
And when I hope, thou mak'st me hope in vain.
Thou say's thou canst my harms repair,
Yet for redress, thou let'st me still complain.
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About If My Complaints Could Passions move
John Dowland's If My Complaints Could Passions Move is a poignant setting of English text that articulates the singer's deep suffering and despair in love. The words speak of a love that seems both powerful and cruel, causing constant pain and unanswered pleas. The composer captures this emotional turmoil through the music, reflecting the paradox of a love that both sustains life and inflicts wounds. This SATB arrangement allows the complex emotions of the original lute song to be explored with rich vocal harmonies. The text expresses a profound sense of being misunderstood and unjustly treated by the object of affection, a common theme in Renaissance secular song, highlighting the composer's skill in conveying intense personal feeling.
