Maid of Athens

DESCRIPTION: "Maid of Athens, ere we part, Give oh give [me] back my heart, Or, since that has left my breast, Keep it now and take the rest." "Then hear my vows before I go, My life, my soul, I love you."
AUTHOR: Words: George Gordon, Lord Byron
EARLIEST DATE: 1810 (text; the many musical settings came later)
KEYWORDS: love travel separation nonballad
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Browne-AlabamaFolkLyric 189, "Maid of Athens" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11315
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Harding B 11(2277), "Maid of Athens," H. Such (London), 1863-1885; also Harding B 11(2278), H. Such (London), 1863-1885
NOTES [161 words]: As "Maid of Athens, Ere We Part," this poem has a Wikipedia entry which explains that Byron wrote it about an actual girl, a twelve-year-old named Teresa Makre (Τερηζα Μακρη). Byron of course never saw her again. His poem had a chorus in (modern) Greek, which he himself translated somewhat inaccurately.
The poem was apparently set to music at least four times, and is very common in songsters, but Browne-AlabamaFolkLyric's appears to be the only verifiable field collection. And even Browne-AlabamaFolkLyric's collected version appears to have been learned from print, in an organ instruction manual.
Nonetheless there does seem to have been some oral tradition involved -- e.g. the Browne-AlabamaFolkLyric text adds "me" in the second line, which makes the meter much more folk-like but does not match the Byron text. Also, the chorus became "My life, my soul, I love you." Neither the Greek (Ζωη μου σας αγαπω) nor the original English had the words "my soul." - RBW
Last updated in version 5.2
File: Brne189

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