In pride of May
The fields are gay,
The birds do sweetly sing. Fa la la!
  So Nature would
  That all things should
With joy begin the spring. Fa la la!

Then, Lady dear,
Do you appear
In beauty like the spring: Fa la la!
  I dare well say
  The birds that day
More cheerfully will sing. Fa la la!

Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age, ed. by A. H. Bullen, London, John C. Nimmo, 1887, page 55.

Text Authorship:

• by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [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 Thomas Weelkes (1576 - 1623), "In pride of May", published 1598 [vocal quintet], from the collection Ballets and Madrigals to five voices, madrigal [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-25
Line count: 12
Word count: 60