Wake now, my Love, awake! for it is time:
The rosy Morne long since left Tithons bed, 
All ready to her silver coche to clyme,
And Phoebus gins to shew his glorious hed.
Hark! how the cheerefull birds do chaunt theyr laies,
And carroll of Loves praise:
The merry larke hir mattins sings aloft; 
The thrush replyes; the mavis descant playes;
The ouzell shrills; the ruddock warbles soft;
So goodly all agree, with sweet consent,
To this dayes meriment.
Ah! my deere Love, why doe ye sleepe thus long, 
When meeter were that ye should now awake,
T'awayt the comming of your ioyous make,
And hearken to the birds love-learned song,
The deawy leaves among!
For they of ioy and pleasance to you sing, 
That all the woods them answer, and theyr eccho ring.

R. Vaughan Williams sets lines 1, 5-18

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser, Volume V, edited by Francis J. Child, London: Imprinted for William Ponsonbie, dwelling in Paules Churchyard at the Signe of the Bishops Head, 1591.

Notes in text:
Mavis, song-thrush.
Descant, variation.
Ouzell, blackbird.
Ruddock, redbreast.
Make, mate.

Modernized spelling used in Vaughan Williams's music:

Wake now my love, awake; for it is time;
...
Hark! how the cheerfull birds do chant their lays
And carol of love's praise. 
The merry Lark her matins sings aloft,
The Thrush replies, the Mavis descant plays,
The Ouzel shrills, the Ruddock warbles soft;
So goodly all agree with sweet consent,
To this day's merriment.
Ah my dear love why do ye sleep thus long,
When meeter were that ye should now awake,
T'await the coming of your joyous make,
And hearken to the birds' love learnèd song,
The dewy leaves among.
For they of joy and pleasance to you sing.
That all the woods them answer and their echo ring.

Text Authorship:

• by Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599), no title, appears in Amoretti and Epithalamion, in Epithalamion, no. 5 [author's text checked 1 time 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):

[ None yet in the database ]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

• by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Wake now", 1957, published 1957 [ baritone, mixed chorus, orchestra ], from cantata Epithalamion, no. 2, London, Oxford University Press
  • View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]
    

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Gustav Ringel

This text was added to the website: 2020-01-11
Line count: 18
Word count: 134