Early one morning | Early one morning, just as the sun was rising

Early one morning

Language: English

Our translations: CAT FIN FRE

Early one morning, just as the sun was rising,
I heard a maid sing in the valley below.
"Oh, don't deceive me, oh, never leave me,
How could you use a [poor]¹ maiden so?"

"O gay is the [garland, fresh]² are the roses
I've culled from the garden to bind on thy brow.
O don't deceive me, O do not leave me!
How could you use a [poor]¹ maiden so?

Remember the vows that you [made]³ to your Mary,
Remember the bow'r where you vowed to be true.
"Oh, don't deceive me, oh, never leave me.
How could you use a poor maiden so!"

Thus [sung]⁴ the poor maiden, her sorrow bewailing,
Thus [sung]⁴ the poor maid in the valley below;
["O don't deceive me! O do not leave me!]⁵
How could you use a poor maiden so?"

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• P. Grainger • A. Smith • M. Tippett

P. Grainger sets stanzas 1, 3
M. Tippett sets stanzas 1, 3, 2, 4

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Smith: "fair"
² Tippett: "garland and"
³ Tippett: "gave"
⁴ Smith: "sang"
⁵ omitted by Smith

Text Authorship:

from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [author's text not yet checked 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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Early one morning" [sung text checked 1 time]
by Hans Gál (1890 - 1987), "Early one morning", published 1969 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Four British Folk-songs, no. 1, B. Schotts Söhne, Mainz; also set in German as "Früh noch am Tage" [sung text not yet checked]
by Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882 - 1961), "Early one morning", stanzas 1,3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Early One Morning", op. 446 (1955) [sung text not yet checked]
by Alan Louis Smith , "Early one morning" [ soprano, viola, and piano ], from Four Folksongs for Soprano, Viola and Piano, no. 2, Alfred [sung text checked 1 time]
by Michael Tippett (1905 - 1998), "Early one morning", 1956, published 1958, stanzas 1,3,2,4 [ chorus a cappella ], from Four Songs from the British Isles, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Garrett Medlock [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 138