by Anonymous / Unidentified Author and sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
It was a lording's daughter, the fairest...
Language: English
It was a lording's daughter, the fairest one of three, That liked of her master as well as well might be, Till looking on an Englishman, the fair'st that eye could see, Her fancy fell a-turning. Long was the combat doubtful that love with love did fight, To leave the master loveless, or kill the gallant knight: To put in practise either, alas, it was a spite Unto the silly damsel! But one must be refused; more mickle was the pain That nothing could be used to turn them both to gain, For of the two the trusty knight was wounded with disdain: Alas, she could not help it! Thus art with arms contending was victor of the day, Which by a gift of learning did bear the maid away: Then, lullaby, the learned man hath got the lady gay; For now my song is ended.
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Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, no title, appears in The Passionate Pilgrim, no. 15, appears in Sonnets to sundry notes of music, no. 1, first published 1599 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
- sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2019-07-24
Line count: 16
Word count: 146