by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
It was a lover and his lass See original
Language: English
It was a lover and his lass,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino
That o'er the green corn-field did pass.
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding a ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.
Between the acres of the rye,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
These pretty country folk would lie,
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding a ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.
...
And therefore take the present time
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
For love is crownéd with the prime
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding a ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.
Composition:
- Set to music by Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934), "It was a lover and his lass", 1916, published 1919, stanzas 1-2,4 [ voice and piano ], from Four Old English Lyrics, no. 4
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in As You Like It, Act V, Scene 3
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
- FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot)
- GER German (Deutsch) (Johann Heinrich Voss) , "Ein Bursch' und Mägdlein, flink und schön", first published 1819
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 201