This edition was prepared by James Gibb — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Cupid once upon a bed of roses
Staff Notation • Secular, Partsongs
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Cupid once upon a bed of roses by John Varley Roberts — Lyrics
Cupid once upon a bed
Of roses laid his weary head,
Luckless urchin, not to see
Within the leaves a slumbering bee,
The bee awaked, with anger wild,
The bee awaked, and stung the child,
Loud and piteous are his cries,
To Venus quick, he runs, he flies,
O mother, I am wounded through,
I die with pain, in sooth I do.
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About Cupid once upon a bed of roses
John Varley Roberts's part-song for ATTB voices, Cupid once upon a bed of roses, opens with an immediate sense of lyrical charm. The four-part texture is woven with delightful independence, painting a vivid musical picture of the text's narrative. The poem itself presents a charming, allegorical conceit: Cupid, stung by a bee while asleep among the roses, complains to his mother Venus. Venus's reply turns the tables, reminding her son that if a bee's sting is so painful, how much greater must be the pain inflicted by Cupid's own arrows on human hearts. The setting captures the lighthearted yet poignant essence of this classical myth, making it a fitting choice for secular choral programmes.
