by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Then Hesperus on high brought cloudy night in sky
 (Sung text for setting by J. Bartlet)
 See base text
Language: English 
 ... 

Then Hesperus on high brought cloudy night in sky;
When lo, the thicket-keeping company
Of feathered singers left their madrigals, 
Sonnets and elegies, and presently 
Shut them within their mossy severals. 
And I came home and vowed to love them ever. 
Of strains so sweet, sweet birds deprive us never.

Glossary

Hic-quail or nickle = European green woodpecker
How boy = Hautbois, oboe
Cornutos = cuckolds
Hesperus = the evening star (the planet Venus)
Serverals = nests

Composition:

    Set to music by John Bartlet (flourished 1606-1610), "Then Hesperus on high brought cloudy night in sky", subtitle: "Part 3", published 1606, stanza 3 [ voice, lute, and viola da gamba ], from A booke of Ayres with a Triplicitie of Musicke, no. 21, Confirmed with A booke of Ayres with a Triplicitie of Musicke by John Bartlet, Printed by John Windet, for John Browne and are to bee sold at his shoppe in Saint Dunstan's Churchyard in Fleet Street, London 1606.

Text Authorship:

  • by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

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Researcher for this page: Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2024-11-05
Line count: 35
Word count: 232