by Thomas Nashe (1567 - 1601)
Spring, the sweet Spring, is the year's...
Language: English
Our translations: GER
Spring, the sweet Spring, is the year's pleasant king; Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring, Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing, Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo! The palm and may make country houses gay, Lambs frisk and play, the [shepherds pipe]1 all day, And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay, Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo! The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet, Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit, In every street these tunes our ears do greet, Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo! Spring! The sweet Spring!
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Argento: "shepherd pipes"
Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Nashe (1567 - 1601), appears in Summer's Last Will and Testament, first published 1600 [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 Dominick Argento (1927 - 2019), "Spring", 1957, published 1970 [ high voice and piano ], from 6 Elizabethan Songs, no. 1, New York, Boosey [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Spring, the sweet spring", op. 44 no. 3 (1949) [ soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, mixed chorus, boys' chorus, and orchestra ], from Spring Symphony, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Frederick Delius (1862 - 1934), "Spring, the sweet spring", 1915, published 1919, first performed 1915 [ voice and piano ], from Four Old English Lyrics, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927), "Spring, the sweet spring", 1972-3 [ high voice and piano ], from A Miscellany of Love Songs, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bernard van Dieren (1887 - 1936), "Spring", 1926, published 1927 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Bruce Faith (b. 1926), "Spring, the sweet Spring" [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "Spring, the sweet Spring", op. 35, published 1956 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], London : Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "Spring", 1913-1914, published 1920 [ mezzo-soprano and instrumental ensemble ], from Five Elizabethan Songs (The Elizas), no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Hageman (1881 - 1966), "Nature’s Holliday" [ voice and piano ], from Two Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Wilfred Josephs (b. 1927), "Spring", 1972 [ satb chorus and optional junior chorus and orchestra with optional vibraphone ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Constant Lambert (1905 - 1951), "Movement III. Coranto", from Summer's Last Will and Testament, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Kirke Mechem (b. 1925), "Spring", op. 24 no. 1 (1964), published c1968 [ mixed chorus a cappella ], from Five Centuries of Spring, no. 1, Bryn Mawr, PA : Th. Presser Co. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ernest John Moeran (1894 - 1950), "Spring, the sweet Spring", R. 54 no. 3 (1930?), published 1933 [ chorus ], from Songs of Springtime, no. 3, Novello [sung text not yet checked]
- by Roxanna Panufnik (b. 1968), "The Sweet Spring", 1999, first performed 1999 [ chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Humphrey Procter-Gregg (1895 - 1980), "Spring, the sweet spring " [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Spring", op. 63 (1945), published 1951 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Spring", op. 197 (1948) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Spring", op. 532 (1959) [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Spring, The Sweet Spring", op. 635 (1963) [sung text not yet checked]
- by Peter Warlock (1894 - 1930), "Spring", 1922-3, published 1924, from Peterisms: second set, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Julia Hamann) , "Frühling", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 13
Word count: 95