Greensleeves
Alas, my love, you do me wrong,
To cast me off discourteously;
And I have loved you so long,
Rejoicing in your company.
Greensleeves was all my joy,
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady Greensleeves?
I have been ready at your hand,
To grant whatever you did crave;
And I have waged both life and land,
Your love and good-will for to gain.
Flow my tears
Flow, my tears, fall from your springs!
Exiled for ever, let me mourn;
Where night’s black bird her sad infamy
sings, there let me live forlorn.
Down vain lights, shine you no more!
No nights are dark enough for those
That in despair their lost fortunes deplore.
Light doth but shame disclose.
Never may my woes be relieved,
Since pity is fled;
And tears and sighs and groans my weary
days of all joys have deprived.
From the highest spire of contentment
My fortune is thrown;
And fear and grief and pain for my deserts
Are my hopes, since hope is gone.
Hark! you shadows that in darkness dwell,
Learn to contemn light.
Say, love, if ever thou didst find
Say, love, if ever thou didst find
A woman with a constant mind?None but one.
And what should that rare mirror be?
Some goddess or some queen is she;
She, she, she, and only she,
She only queen of love and beauty.
But could thy fiery poison'd dart
At no time touch her spotless heart,
Nor come near?
She is not subject to Love's bow;
Her eye commands, her heart saith no,
No, no, no, and only no;
One no another still doth follow.
How might I that fair wonder know,
That mocks desire with endless no.
See the moon
That ever in one change doth grow,
Yet still the same, and she is so;
So, so, so, and only so,
From heav'n her virtues she doth borrow.
To her then yield thy shafts and bow,
That can command affection so:
Love is free;
So are her thoughts that vanquish thee.
There is no queen of love but she,
She, she, she, and only she
She only queen of love and beauty.
In darkness let me dwell
In darkness let me dwell, the ground shall sorrow be;
The roof despair to bar all cheerful light from me;
The walls of marble black that moistened still shall weep;
My music hellish jarring sounds to banish friendly sleep.
Thus wedded to my woes, and bedded to my tomb,
O let me living, living die, till death do come.
I’ll sail upon the Dogstar
I'll sail upon the Dog Star,
And then pursue the morning,
I'll chase the moon 'till it be noon,
But I'll make her leave her horning.
I'll climb the frosty mountain,
And there I'll coin the weather;
I'll tear the rainbow from the sky,
And tie both ends together.
The stars pluck from their orbs, too,
And crowd them in my budget!And whether I'm a roaring boy,
Let all the nations judge it.
Sweeter than roses
Sweeter than roses, or cool evening breeze
On a warm flowery shore, was the dear kiss,
First trembling made me freeze,
Then shot like fire all o’er.
What magic has victorious love!For all I touch or see since that dear kiss,
I hourly prove, all is love to me.
O Solitude
O solitude, my sweetest choice,
Places devoted to the night,
Remote from tumult and from noise,
How ye my restless thoughts delight!
O heav’ns! what content is mine
To see those trees, which have appear’d
From the nativity of time,
And which all ages have rever’d,
To look today as fresh and green
As when their beauties first were seen.
Oh, how agreeable a sight
These hanging mountains do appear,
Which th’ unhappy would invite
To finish all their sorrows here,
When their hard fate makes them endure
Such woes as only death can cure.
O solitude, oh, how I solitude adore!
Here the deities approve
Here the deities approve
The God of Music and of Love;
All the talents they have lent you,
All the blessings they have sent you,
Pleased to see what they bestow,
Live and thrive so well below.
If grief has any pow’r to kill
If grief has any pow'r to kill,
I have receiv'd my doom;
The tyrant has declar'd his will,
My time's not long to come;
So close he has besieg'd my heart,
No moment's ease I find,
In vain I struggle with the dart
That galls my tortur'd mind.
Nor do I beg for a reprieve,
I'm not so fond to live;
Nor will I any longer grieve,
Will you one smile but give.
Your mercy then should to my heart
An easy death convey,
I'd then defy the power of smart,
And melt in joys away.
Music for a while
Music for a while
Shall all your cares beguile.
Wond'ring how your pains were eas'd
And disdaining to be pleas'd
Till Alecto free the dead
From their eternal bands,
Till the snakes drop from her head,
And the whip from out her hands.
Music for a while
Shall all your cares beguile.
There’s not a swain
There's not a Swain, on the Plain,
would be bless'd like me, oh!
could you but on me smile;
but you appear so severe
that trembling with fear,
my heart goes pit-a-pat, all the while:
When I cry, must I die,
you make no reply, but look shy,
and with a scornful eye
kill me by your cruelty.
Oh! can you be so hard to me?
Man is for the woman made
Man is for the woman made,
And the woman made for man;
As the spur is for the jade,
As the scabbard for the blade,
As for digging is the spade,
As for liquor is the can,
So man is for the woman made,
And the woman for the man.
As the scepter to be sway'd,
As for night's the serenade,
As for pudding is the pan,
And to cool us is the fan,
So man is for the woman made,
And the woman for the man.
Be she widow, wife or maid,
Be she wanton, be she stayed,
Be she well or ill array'd,
Princess, or harridan,
Yet man is for the woman made,
And the woman for the man.
