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from Volkslieder (Folksongs)

Alas, my love, you do me wrong
Language: English 
Alas, my love, you do me wrong,
To cast me off discourteously.
For I have loved you well and long,
Delighting in your company.
  Greensleeves was all my joy
  Greensleeves was my delight,
  Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
  And who but my lady greensleeves.

2. Alas, my love, that you should own
A heart of wanton vanity,
So must I meditate alone
Upon your insincerity.
  Greensleeves was all ...

3. Your vows you've broken, like my heart,
Oh, why did you so enrapture me?
Now I remain in a world apart
But my heart remains in captivity.
  Greensleeves was all ...

4. If you intend thus to disdain,
It does the more enrapture me,
And even so, I still remain
A lover in captivity.
  Greensleeves was all...

5. I have been ready at your hand,
To grant whatever thou [wouldst]1 crave;
I have both wagered life and land,
Your love and good-will for to have.
  Greensleeves was all...

6. Thou couldst desire no earthly thing,
But still thou hadst it readily.
Thy music still to play and sing;
And yet thou wouldst not love me.
  Greensleeves was all...

7. I bought thee kerchiefs for thy head,
That were wrought fine and gallantly;
I kept thee at both board and bed,
Which cost my purse well-favoredly.
  Greensleeves was all...

8. I bought thee petticoats of the best,
The cloth so fine as it might be;
I gave thee jewels for thy chest,
And all this cost I spent on thee.
  Greensleeves was all...

9. Thy smock of silk, both fair and white,
With gold embroidered gorgeously;
Thy petticoat of sendal right,
And these I bought thee gladly.
  Greensleeves was all...

10. My men were clothed all in green,
And they did ever wait on thee;
All this was gallant to be seen,
And yet thou wouldst not love me.
  Greensleeves was all...

11. They set thee up, they took thee down,
They served thee with humility;
Thy foot might not once touch the ground,
And yet thou wouldst not love me.
  Greensleeves was all...

12. ['Tis]2 I will pray to God on high,
That thou my constancy mayst see,
[And that yet once before I die,
Thou wilt vouchsafe to love me.
  Greensleeves was all...

13. Ah, Greensleeves, now farewell, adieu,
To God I pray to prosper thee,]3
For I am still thy lover true,
Come once again and love me.
  Greensleeves was all...

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   R. Vaughan Williams 

R. Vaughan Williams sets stanzas 1, 5, 8

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Vaughan Williams: "would"
2 Vaughan Williams: "Well"
3 omitted by Vaughan Williams.

Text Authorship:

  • from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Greensleeves" [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):

  • by Frances Arkwright (1787 - 1849), "Alas! My love you do me wrong : a ballad", published 1832? [ voice and piano ], London : Chappell [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Greensleeves", stanzas 1,5,8 [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 68
Word count: 405

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
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