20a. Hence, vain deluding Joys

From L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, HWV 55, Part II, Il Penseroso

Composer	George Frideric Handel
Key	b minor → D major
Meter	4/4
Tempo	Larghetto e piano
Length	18 measures

English text
Soprano
Hence, vain deluding joys,
The brood of Folly without father bred;
How little you bestead,
Or fill the fixed mind with all your toys.
Oh, let my lamp, at midnight hour,
Be seen in some high lonely tow’r,
Where I may oft out-watch the Bear
With thrice-great Hermes, or unsphere
The spirit of Plato to unfold
What worIds, or what vast regions hold
Th’immortal mind that hath forsook
Her mansion in this fleshly nook.
Opera Stanford

About the text

• Author: Charles Jennens

Instrumentation

Notes

Resources

• Full score: Hallische Händel-Ausgabe I/16, p. 79, p. 79
• Opera Stanford ›
• Scores at IMSLP ›
• Wikipedia ›

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