Balade | Ballade | Hyd, Absolon, thy gilte tresses clere

Hyd, Absolon, thy gilte tresses clere

Language: Middle English

Hyd, Absolon, thy gilte tresses clere;
Ester, ley thou thy meknesse al a-doun;
Hyd, Jonathas, al thy frendly manere;
Penalopee, and Marcia Catoun,
Mak of your wyfhod no comparisoun;
Hyde ye your beautes, Isoude and Eleyne;
My lady cometh, that al this may disteyne.

Thy faire body, lat hit nat appere,
Lavyne; and thou, Lucresse of Rome toun,
And Polixene, that boghten love so dere,
And Cleopatre, with al thy passioun,
Hyde ye your trouthe of love and your renoun;
And thou, Tisbe, that hast of love swich peyne;
My lady cometh, that al this may disteyne.

Herro, Dido, Laudomia, alle y-fere,
And Phyllis, hanging for thy Demophoun,
And Canace, espyed by thy chere,
Ysiphile, betraysed with Jasoun,
Maketh of your trouthe neyther boost ne soun;
Nor Ypermistre or Adriane, ye tweyne;
My lady cometh, that al this may distevne.

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• G. Bush

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Modernized form used by Bush:

Hide, Absalom, thy guilty tresses clear;
Esther, lay thou thy meekness all a-down;
Hide Jonathas, all thy friendly manère;
Penelope, and Marcia Catoun.
Make of your wifehood no comparisoun;
Hide ye your beauties, Isoud and Elaine.
My lady cometh, that all this may distain.

The faire body, let it not appear, Lavyn;
and thou, Lucress of Rome town,
And Polixene, that broughten love so dear;
And Cleopatr will all thy passion,
Hide ye your truth of love and your renown;
And thou, Tisbe, that hast of love such pain.
My lady cometh, that all this may distain.

Hero, Dido, Laodomia, all y-frere,
And Phyllis, hanging for thy Demophoun,
And Canace, espiéd by thy chere,
Ysyphile, betrayséd with Jasoun,
Make of your truthé neither boast ne soun;
Nor Hypermestr or Adriane, ye twain.
My lady cometh, that all this may distain.

Text Authorship:

by Geoffrey Chaucer (c1343 - 1400), "Balade" [author's text not yet checked 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 Geoffrey Bush (1920 - 1998), "Hide, Absalom, thy guilty tresses clear", 1976 [ tenor and soprano ], from A Little Love Music, no. 1, Confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
by Frederick Jacobi (1891 - 1952), "Ballade", from Two Poems by Geoffrey Chaucer, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2008-09-01
Line count: 21
Word count: 140