The driving boy

Set by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "The driving boy", op. 44 no. 4 (1949) [ soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, mixed chorus, boys' chorus, and orchestra ], from Spring Symphony, no. 4 [Sung Text]

Note: this setting is made up of several separate texts.


 ... 

The driving boy beside his team
of Maymonth's beauty now will dream
And cock his hat and turn his eye
On flower and tree and deepning skye
And oft burst loud in fits of song
And whistle as he reels along
Cracking his whip in starts of joy
A happy dirty driving boy

Text Authorship:

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]


When as the rye reach'd to the chin,
And chop-cherry, chop-cherry ripe within,
Strawberries swimming in the cream,
And schoolboys playing in the stream;
Then, O, then O then O, my true love said,
Till that time come again 
She could not live a maid!

Text Authorship:

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

  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Lidy van Noordenburg) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

Author(s): John Clare (1793 - 1864), George Peele (1556? - 1596)