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.
1. 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]
2. Oh Mistress Mine  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
O mistress mine, where are you roaming? O stay and hear, your true love's coming That can sing both high and low. [Trip]1 no [further]2, pretty sweeting; [Journeys]3 end in lovers' meeting, Ev'ry wise man's son doth know. What is love? 'Tis not hereafter; Present mirth hath present laughter; What's to come is still unsure: [In]4 delay there lies no plenty; Then [come kiss]5 me, sweet and twenty; Youth's a stuff will not endure.
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Twelfth Night: or, What You Will, Act II, Scene 3
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Manuel Capdevila i Font) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo)
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (David Paley) , "O Fräulein meins! Woher du wanderst", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Paolo Montanari) , "O mia signora", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- POL Polish (Polski) (Józef Komierowski) , no title [an adaptation]
1 Korngold: "O trip"
2 [sic] ; and Hall: "farther"
3 Korngold: "For journeyes"
4 Korngold: "And in"
5 Korngold: "come and kiss"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
3. Daffodils  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
When daffodils begin to peer -
With heigh! The doxy over the dale -
Why, then comes the sweet o' the year;
For the red blood reigns in the winter's pale.
The white sheet bleaching on the hedge -
With heigh! The sweet birds, O how they sing!
Doth set my pugging tooth on edge;
For a quart of ale is a dish for a king.
The lark, that tirra-lirra chants,
With heigh! with heigh! The thrush and the jay,
Are summer songs for me and my aunts,
While we lie tumbling in the hay.
But shall I go mourn for that, my dear?
The pale moon shines by night:
And when I wander here and there,
I then do most go right.
Jog on, jog on, the foot-path way,
And merrily hent the stile-a:
A merry heart goes all the day,
Your sad tires in a mile-a.
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in A Winter's Tale, Act IV, Scene 3
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot) , no title
Total word count: 426
