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 form of text used by Holmes, Steele:

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]1 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]2, 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]3 to break them with her eyes.

¹ Steele: "poisonous"
² Steele: "fairies"
³ Steele: "art"

Text 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