by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
In a green meadow
Language: English
In a green meadow, A river running by, I heard a pretty maiden Lament, wail and cry. The tears fell from her eyes As clear as any pearls, And then I much lamented The mourning of this girl. She sighed and she sobbed And to herself she said, "Alack. what luck had I to live So long and die a maid. Now in this world No charity is known. And young men are hard-hearted, Which makes me lie alone. The day and time had been, Had I not been so nice, I might have enjoyed my true love, If I had been wise. But toyishness and coyishness And peevishness such store Hath brought me to this pensiveness And maiden, maiden more. Virginity is a burden That few or none can carry, And that's the reason sure That our mothers all did marry. But since it is a pastime That hath been used before. If bashfulness do wrong me, I will deny no more. For be it light or be it dark Or do he look or wink, He cannot miss the mark If he hath the wit to think. For time lost and time past Cannot be called again; Therefore, maidens, all make haste Lest with me you complain."
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author ( 17th century )  [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , "In a green meadow", c1640-1660. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: John Versmoren
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 40
Word count: 209