The seeds of love

I sowed the seeds of love,
And I sowed them in the spring:
I gathered them up in the morning so soon
While the small birds so sweetly sing.

My garden was planted well
With flowers everywhere.
But I had not the liberty to choose for myself
Of the flowers that I love so dear.

The gardener was standing by,
And I asked him to choose for me.
He chose for me the violet, the lily and the pink,
But those I refused - all three.

In June there's a red rosebud,
And that is the flower for me.
I often times have plucked that red rosebud
Till I gained the willow tree.

Submitted by Emily Ezust [Administrator]

Authorship

• from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , a song collected by Cecil Sharp (first sung to him by John England in 1903). [ 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 Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "The seeds of love" [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

Set in a modified version by George Sainton Kaye Butterworth.

• Go to the text. [ view differences ]
  

Set in a modified version by Gustav Holst.

• Go to the text. [ view differences ]
  

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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