It was a lover and his lass, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino That o'er the green [corn-field]1 did pass. In [the]2 spring time, the only pretty ring time, When birds do sing, hey ding a ding a ding; Sweet lovers love the spring. Between the acres of the rye, [With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,]3 These pretty country [folks]4 would lie, [In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,]5 [When birds do sing, hey ding a ding a ding; Sweet lovers love the spring.]3 This carol they began that hour, [With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,]3 How that a life was but a flower [In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,]5 [When birds do sing, hey ding a ding a ding; Sweet lovers love the spring.]3 [And therefore take the present time]6 [With]7 a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, For love is crownéd with the prime In [the]2 spring time, the only pretty ring time, When birds do sing, hey ding a ding a ding; Sweet lovers love the spring.
Three Shakespeare Songs
Song Cycle by Lynne Plowman (b. 1969)
2. It was a lover and his lass  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in As You Like It, Act V, Scene 3
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
- FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot)
- GER German (Deutsch) (Johann Heinrich Voss) , "Ein Bursch' und Mägdlein, flink und schön", first published 1819
1 Morley: "cornfields"
2 omitted by Barton, Bush, and Morley
3 omitted by Dring; omitted by Parry
4 Delius, Dring: "folk"
5 Barton, Bush, Morley: "In spring time, the only pretty ring time,"; omitted by Dring; omitted by Parry
6 Barton, Morley : "Then, pretty lovers, take the time"
7 Bush: "And with"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
3. Come away, come away, death  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
[Come away, come away, death]1, And in sad cypress let me be laid; Fly away, fly away, breath; I am slain by a fair cruel maid. My shroud of white, stuck all with yew, [O prepare it!]2 My part of death, no one so true Did share it. Not a flower, not a flower sweet, On my black coffin let there be [strown]3; Not a friend, not a friend greet My poor corpse, where my bones shall be [thrown]4: [A thousand, thousand sighs to save,]5 Lay me, O where [Sad true]6 lover never find my grave, [To weep there!]7
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Twelfth Night: or, What You Will, Act II, scene 4
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Jan Jonk) , "Kom toch gauw, kom toch gauw, dood", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (David Paley) , "Komm herbei, komm herbei, Tod", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Paolo Montanari) , "Vieni, o morte", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , "Kom hit, kom nå hit, død", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- POL Polish (Polski) (Józef Komierowski) , no title
1 Fortner: "Death, come away, come away"
2 Dring: "Come prepare it"
3 Leguerney: "thrown"; Wilkinson: "strewn"
4 Leguerney: "strown"
5 Korngold: "A thousand sighs to save,"; omitted by Argento.
6 Korngold: "True"
7 Amram: "did share it." [mistake?]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Total word count: 308