“Gentle lady, do not sing
Sad songs about the end of love;
Lay aside sadness and sing
How love that passes is enough.

Sing about the long deep sleep
Of lovers that are dead, and how
In the grave all love shall sleep:
Love is aweary now.”

—  James Joyce , book Chamber Music

Source: Chamber Music

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Gentle lady, do not sing Sad songs about the end of love; Lay aside sadness and sing How love that passes is enough. S…" by James Joyce?
James Joyce photo
James Joyce 191
Irish novelist and poet 1882–1941

Related quotes

David Levithan photo
Becky Stark photo

“I'll never sing a love song for a love that isn't true. I love how the garden grows
And I love the garden rose.”

Becky Stark (1976) American singer

Garden Rose
Imagine Our Love (2007)
Context: I'll never stop a bullet but a bullet might stop me.
I'll never drink the ocean but the ocean might drink me.
And I'll never raise a portrait to a gentle man in blue
And I'll never sing a love song for a love that isn't true. I love how the garden grows
And I love the garden rose.

Russell T. Davies photo

“We will sing to you, Doctor. The universe will sing you to your sleep. This song is ending. But the story never ends.”

Russell T. Davies (1963) Screenwriter, former executive producer of Doctor Who

Ood Sigma, to the Tenth incarnation of the Doctor, in The End of Time [4.18] (1 January 2010) <!-- written with Steven Moffat though only the final scene, and not this one. -->

Mark Knopfler photo
Homér photo

“Men grow tired of sleep, love, singing and dancing, sooner than of war.”

A misquotation http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2009-August/092648.html of:

Πάντων μὲν κόρος ἐστὶ καὶ ὕπνου καὶ φιλότητος
μολπῆς τε γλυκερῆς καὶ ἀμύμονος ὀρχηθμοῖο,
τῶν πέρ τις καὶ μᾶλλον ἐέλδεται ἐξ ἔρον εἷναι
ἢ πολέμου· Τρῶες δὲ μάχης ἀκόρητοι ἔασιν.

Men get
Their fill of all things, of sleep and love, sweet song
And flawless dancing, and most men like these things
Much better than war. Only Trojans are always
Thirsty for blood!

Iliad, XIII, 636–639 (tr. Ennis Rees)

The misquotation implies that an overweening love of war was the norm, whereas the real quote decries the Trojans as inhumane for keeping the war going.
Misattributed

Jack Kerouac photo
Paramahansa Yogananda photo

“Love is the song of the soul, singing to God.”

Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952) Yogi, a guru of Kriya Yoga and founder of Self-Realization Fellowship

Songs of the Soul by Paramahansa Yogananda, Quotes drawn from the poem "What is Love?"

Otis Redding photo
Eldon Hoke photo

“Interviewer: Do you guys really live the lifestyle that you sing about in your songs?
El Duce: Absolutely. All our songs are about reality. Like Sleep Bandits.”

Eldon Hoke (1958–1997) Singer, musician

El Duce, The Man, The Myth, The Video (1993) by Reverend Cuntbag

Bono photo

“How long, how long must we sing this song?”

Bono (1960) Irish rock musician, singer of U2

"Sunday Bloody Sunday"
Lyrics, War (1983)

Related topics