The seeds of love
Language: English
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.
Text 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 Imogen Clare Holst (1907 - 1984), "The seeds of love", 1934, published 1936 [ 2 sopranos and piano ], from Four Oxfordshire Folk Songs, no. 3, Novello [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "The Seeds Of Love", op. 263 (1950) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "The seeds of love" [sung text checked 1 time]
Set in a modified version by George Sainton Kaye Butterworth.
Set in a modified version by Gustav Holst.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 112