Sweet Suffolk Owl, so trimly dight With feathers like a lady bright, Thou singest alone, sitting by night, Te whit, te whoo! Te whit, te whoo! The note, that forth so freely rolls, With shrill command the mouse controls; And sings a dirge for dying souls, Te whit, te whoo! Te whit, te whoo!
Hebdomade
Song Cycle by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011)
1. Sweet Suffolk Owl  [sung text not yet checked]
Authorship:
- by Thomas Vautor (1590 - 1625), first published 1619
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]2. Fain would I change that note  [sung text not yet checked]
Fain would I change that note To which fond Love hath charm'd me Long, long to sing by rote, Fancying that that harm'd me: Yet when this thought doth come 'Love is the perfect sum Of all delight!' I have no other choice Either for pen or voice To sing or write. O Love! they wrong thee much That say thy [fruit]1 is bitter, When thy [rich]2 fruit is such As nothing can be sweeter. Fair house of joy and bliss, Where truest pleasure is, I do adore thee: I know thee what thou art, I serve thee with my heart, And fall before thee.
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
- sometimes misattributed to Tobias Hume (c1569 - 1645)
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View original text (without footnotes)1 Hume, Mulholland, Orr, Quilter: "sweet"
2 Hume: "ripe"
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Ted Perry
3. Weep you no more, sad fountains  [sung text not yet checked]
Weep you no more, sad fountains; What need [you]1 flow so fast? Look how the snowy mountains Heaven's sun doth gently waste! But my sun's heavenly eyes View not your weeping, That now lies sleeping, [Softly now, softly]2 lies Sleeping. Sleep is a reconciling, A rest that peace begets; Doth not the sun rise smiling When fair at [e'en]3 he sets? Rest you, then, rest, sad eyes! Melt not in weeping, While she lies sleeping, [Softly now, softly]2 lies Sleeping.
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author ( 16th century )
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Julia Hamann) , "Tränen", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
1 van Dieren: "ye"
2 van Dieren, Holst, Moeran: "Softly, now softly"
3 Parry: "eve"; Moeran, Quilter, van Dieren: "even"; Holst: "ev'n"
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
4. A Sparrow‑Hawk proud did hold in wicked jail  [sung text not yet checked]
A Sparrow-Hawk proud did hold in wicked jail Music's sweet chorister, the nightingale, To whom with sighs she said: "O set me free! And in my song I'll praise no bird but thee." The hawk replied, "I will not lose my diet To let a thousand such enjoy their quiet."
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
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Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age, ed. by A. H. Bullen, London, John C. Nimmo, 1887, page 2.Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
5. Mother, I will have a husband  [sung text not yet checked]
Mother, I will have a husband, And I will have him out of hand. Mother, I will sure have one, In spite of her that will have none. John-a-Dun should have had me long ere this, He said I had good lips to kiss. Mother, I will sure have one, In spite of her that will have none. For I have heard 'tis trim when folks do love, By good Sir John I swear I'll prove. My other I will sure have one, In spite of her that will have none. To the town therefore will I gad, To get me a husband good or bad. Mother I will have a husband, And I will have him out of hand. Mother, I will sure have one, In spite of her that will have none.
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]6. Interlude
— This text is not currently
in the database but will be added
as soon as we obtain it. —
7. It was a lover and his lass  [sung text not yet checked]
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.
Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in As You Like It, Act V, Scene 3
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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]