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 maiden so?"

"O gay is the garland, fresh 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 maiden so?

Remember the vows that you made 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 the poor maiden, her sorrow bewailing,
Thus sung the poor maid in the valley below;
"O don't deceive me! O do not leave me!
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 text with all available footnotes

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