by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Vendor's song See original
Language: English
Lawn as white as driven snow, White as snow, driven snow; Cyprus black as e'er was crow, Black as e’er was crow: Come buy of me, come, buy. Gloves as sweet as damask roses, Sweet as damask roses, Masks for faces and for noses, And for noses; Come lads, buy of me, come, buy. Diddle, diddle, diddle, diddle. Diddle, diddle, diddle, diddle. Bugle bracelet, necklace amber, Bracelet, necklace amber; Perfume for a lady's chamber, For a lady’s chamber; Come buy of me, come, buy. Golden quoifs and stomachers, For my lads to give their dears; Pins and poking-sticks of steel, What maids lack from head to heel. Come, lads, buy, lads; Come, lads, buy, lads; Buy, or else your lasses cry. Come, buy, buy, buy, buy.
Composition:
- Set to music by Marc Blitzstein (1905 - 1964), "Vendor's song", published 1958 [ low voice, piano ], from Six Elizabethan Songs, no. 6
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in A Winter's Tale, Act IV, Scene 4, Autolycus's song.
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot) , no title
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 13
Word count: 74