Sweet is the Rose, but growes vpon a brere; Sweet is the Iunipere, but sharpe his bough; sweet is the Eglantine, but pricketh nere; sweet is the firbloome, but his braunches rough. Sweet is the Cypresse, but his rynd is tough, sweet is the nut, but bitter is his pill; sweet is the broome-flowre, but yet sowre enough; and sweet is Moly, but his root is ill. So euery sweet with soure is tempred still, that maketh it be coueted the more: for easie things that may be got at will, most sorts of men doe set but little store. Why then should I accoumpt of little paine, that endlesse pleasure shall vnto me gaine.
Six Elizabethan Songs
Song Cycle by Marc Blitzstein (1905 - 1964)
1. Sweet is the rose  [sung text not yet checked]
Authorship:
- by Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599), "Sonnet XXVI", appears in Amoretti and Epithalamion
Go to the single-text view
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]2. Shepherd's song  [sung text checked 1 time]
When daffodils begin to peer - With heigh! The doxy over the dale - Why, then comes the sweet o' the year; For the red blood reigns in the winter's pale. The white sheet bleaching on the hedge - With heigh! The sweet birds, O how they sing! Doth set my pugging tooth on edge; For a quart of ale is a dish for a king. The lark, that tirra-lirra chants, With heigh! with heigh! The thrush and the jay, Are summer songs for me and my aunts, While we lie tumbling in the hay. But shall I go mourn for that, my dear? The pale moon shines by night: And when I wander here and there, I then do most go right. Jog on, jog on, the foot-path way, And merrily hent the stile-a: A merry heart goes all the day, Your sad tires in a mile-a.
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in A Winter's Tale, Act IV, Scene 3
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot) , no title
1 Not set by Quilter.
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
3. Song of the glove
— This text is not currently
in the database but will be added
as soon as we obtain it. —
4. Court song
— This text is not currently
in the database but will be added
as soon as we obtain it. —
5. Lullaby  [sung text checked 1 time]
You spotted snakes with double tongue, Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen; Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong, Come not near our fairy queen. Philomel, with melody Sing in our sweet lullaby; Lulla, lulla, lullaby, lulla, lulla, lullaby: [Never harm, Nor spell nor charm, Come our lovely lady nigh; So, good night, with lullaby.]1 Weaving spiders, come not here; Hence, you long-legg'd spinners, hence! [Beetles black, approach not near; Worm nor snail, do no offence. Philomel, with melody, etc.]2
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Midsummer Night's Dream, Act II, Scene 2
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lidy van Noordenburg) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo)
1 moved to the end by Křenek; moved to the beginning by Blitzstein (see text below).
2 omitted by Křenek.
Text as set by Blitzstein (courtesy of Kyle Degraff):
Lulla, lulla, lullaby, lulla, lulla, lullaby: Never harm, Nor spell nor charm, Come our lovely lady nigh; So, good night, with lullaby. You spotted snakes with double tongue, Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen; Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong, Come not near our fairy queen. Weaving spiders, come not here; Hence, you long-legged spinners, hence! Beetles black, approach not near; Worm nor snail, do no offence. Philomele, with melody Sing in our sweet lullaby. Lulla, lulla, lullaby, Lulla, lulla, lullaby. Lullaby.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
6. Vendor's song  [sung text not yet checked]
Lawn as white as driven snow; Cyprus black as e'er was crow; Gloves as sweet as damask roses; Masks for faces and for noses; Bugle bracelet, necklace amber, Perfume for a lady's chamber; Golden quoifs and stomachers, For my lads to give their dears: Pins and poking-sticks of steel, What maids lack from head to heel: Come buy of me, come; come buy, come buy; Buy lads, or else your lasses cry: Come buy.
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in A Winter's Tale, Act IV, Scene 4, Autolycus's song.
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot) , no title
Lawn as white as driven snow, White as snow, driven snow; Cyprus black as e'er was crow, Black as e’er was crow: Come buy of me, come, buy. Gloves as sweet as damask roses, Sweet as damask roses, Masks for faces and for noses, And for noses; Come lads, buy of me, come, buy. Diddle, diddle, diddle, diddle. Diddle, diddle, diddle, diddle. Bugle bracelet, necklace amber, Bracelet, necklace amber; Perfume for a lady's chamber, For a lady’s chamber; Come buy of me, come, buy. Golden quoifs and stomachers, For my lads to give their dears; Pins and poking-sticks of steel, What maids lack from head to heel. Come, lads, buy, lads; Come, lads, buy, lads; Buy, or else your lasses cry. Come, buy, buy, buy, buy.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]