by Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620)
Thrice tosse these Oaken ashes in the...
Language: English
Thrice tosse these Oaken ashes in the ayre; Thrice sit thou mute in this inchanted chayre: And thrice three times tye up this true loves knot, And murmur soft shee will, or shee will not. Goe burn these poys'nous weedes in yon blew fire, These Screech-owles fethers, and this prockling bryer, This Cypresse gathered at a dead mans grave; That all my feares and cares an end may have. Then come you Fayries, dance with me a round, Melt her hard hart with yout melodious sound: In vaine alre all the charms I can devise, She hath an Arte to breake them with her eyes.
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Modernized text used by Brian Holmes and Douglas Steele follows:
Thrice toss these oaken ashes in the air, Thrice sit thou mute in this enchanted chair; Then thrice three times tie up this true love's knot, And murmur soft, she will, or she will not. Go burn this pois'nous weeds in yon blue fire, These screech owl's feathers, and this prickling briar, This cypress gathered at a dead man's grave: That all thy fears and cares an end may have. Then come, you Fairies, dance with me a round, Melt her hard heart with your melodious sound. In vain are all the charms I can devise: She hath an Art to break them with her eyes.
Note: Note: Steele changes "pois'nous" to "poisonous" and keeps "Fairies" and "Art" lower-case.
Authorship:
- by Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620), first published 1617 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620), "Thrice tosse these Oaken ashes", published 1617, from The Third and Fourth Booke of Ayres - The Third Booke, no. 9 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "Thrice toss these oaken ashes up in air", 1920 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Brian Holmes (b. 1946), "Thrice toss these oaken ashes in the air", from Six Ayres, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Douglas Steele (1910 - 1999), "Thrice toss these oaken ashes in the air" [ voice and piano ], Manchester, Forsyth Publications [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Linda Godry
This text was added to the website: 2006-12-09
Line count: 12
Word count: 105