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by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (1787 - 1874)

Lawn as white as driven snow
Language: English 
Lawn as white as driven snow;
Cyprus black as e'er was crow;
Gloves as sweet as damask roses;
Masks for faces and for noses;
Bugle bracelet, necklace amber,
Perfume for a lady's chamber;
Golden quoifs and stomachers,
For my lads to give their dears:
Pins and poking-sticks of steel,
What maids lack from head to heel:
Come buy of me, come; come buy, come buy;
Buy lads, or else your lasses cry: 
Come buy.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   M. Blitzstein 

About the headline (FAQ)

Text as set by Blitzstein:

Lawn as white as driven snow,
White as snow, driven snow;
Cyprus black as e'er was crow,
Black as e’er was crow:
Come buy of me, come, buy.

Gloves as sweet as damask roses,
Sweet as damask roses,
Masks for faces and for noses,
And for noses;
Come lads, buy of me, come, buy.

Diddle, diddle, diddle, diddle.
Diddle, diddle, diddle, diddle.

Bugle bracelet, necklace amber,
Bracelet, necklace amber;
Perfume for a lady's chamber,
For a lady’s chamber;
Come buy of me, come, buy.

Golden quoifs and stomachers,
For my lads to give their dears;
Pins and poking-sticks of steel,
What maids lack from head to heel.

Come, lads, buy, lads;
Come, lads, buy, lads;
Buy, or else your lasses cry.
Come, buy, buy, buy, buy.

Text Authorship:

  • by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in A Winter's Tale, Act IV, Scene 4, Autolycus's song. [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 Marc Blitzstein (1905 - 1964), "Vendor's song", published 1958 [ low voice, piano ], from Six Elizabethan Songs, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "Lawn as white as driven snow ", op. 181 no. 1 (1988) [ counter-tenor, recorder, harpsichord, and violoncello ], from Six by Four, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "Lawn as white as driven snow", 2015, first performed 2016 [ counter-tenor and piano ], from O Mistress Mine -- 12 Songs for countertenor and piano on texts from plays by William Shakespeare, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by J. Frederick Keel (1871 - 1954), "Autolycus's song", published 1921 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by John Wilson (1595 - 1674), "Lawn as white as driven snow" [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot) , no title


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 13
Word count: 74

Du linon aussi blanc que la neige
Language: French (Français)  after the English 
Du linon aussi blanc que la neige,
Du crêpe noir comme le corbeau,
Des gants parfumés comme les roses de Damas,
Des masques pour la figure et pour le nez,
Des bracelets de verre, des colliers d’ambre,
Des parfums pour la chambre des dames,
Des coiffes dorées et des devants de corsages
Dont les garçons peuvent faire présent à leurs belles,
Des épingles et des agrafes d’acier,
Tout ce qu’il faut aux jeunes filles, des pieds à la tête.
Venez, achetez-moi ; allons, venez acheter, venez acheter,
Achetez, jeunes gens, ou vos jeunes filles se plaindront.
Venez acheter.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (1787 - 1874), no title [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in English by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in A Winter's Tale, Act IV, Scene 4, Autolycus's song.
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2016-01-13
Line count: 13
Word count: 97

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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