Acis and Galatea, HWV 49a, Act I: Oh, Didst Thou Know The Pains - As When The Dove (Galatea)
John Gay, Ovid, George Frideric Handel
Oh, didst thou know the pains of absent love,
Acis would ne'er from Galatea rove.
As when the dove
Laments her love,
All on the naked spray
When he returns,
No more she mourns,
But loves the live-long day.
Billing, cooing,
Panting, wooing,
Melting murmurs fill the grove,
Melting murmurs, lasting love.
