This morning's anthem by the First Congregational Church's choir was a magnificent madrigal, "Weep, O Mine Eyes".
Weep, o mine eyes and cease not,
alas, these your spring tides methinks increase not.
O when begin you to swell so high
that I may drown me in you?
alas, these your spring tides methinks increase not.
O when begin you to swell so high
that I may drown me in you?
Weep, O Mine Eyes
John Bennet (ca. 1575-1614)
"Weep" was first published by John Bennet in his first collection of madrigals in 1599. It was one of his most popular madrigals, as well as one of the most internationally famous songs of the period. It is apparently based on John Dowland's "Flow, my Teares".
The Composer
John Bennet's exact birth and death dates are unknown. Attributions on scores often list him as dying in around 1610, although it is more likely that he died sometime after 1614, when six of his songs were published in "Briefe Discourse" by Thomas Ravenscroft.
