Under the greenwood tree | Under the greenwood tree

Under the greenwood tree

Language: English

Our translations: DUT GER

Under the greenwood tree
Who loves to lie with me,
And [turn]¹ [his]² merry note
Unto the sweet bird's throat,
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather.

Who doth ambition shun,
And loves to live i' the sun,
Seeking the food he eats,
And pleas'd with what he gets,
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather.

If it do come to pass
That any man turn ass,
Leaving his wealth and ease,
A stubborn will to please,
Ducdame, ducdame, ducdame:
Here shall he see
Gross fools as he,
An if he will come to me.
Under the greenwood tree
Who loves to lie with me.

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• T. Arne • E. Coates • M. Dring • S. Gerber • I. Gurney • M. Horder • H. Howells • E. Korngold • K. Leighton • D. Moore • O. Morales • C. Parry • R. Quilter • W. Walton

T. Arne sets stanza 1
I. Gurney sets stanzas 1-2
R. Quilter sets stanzas 1-2
S. Gerber sets stanzas 1-2
E. Coates sets stanzas 1, 2

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Quilter: "tune"
² Korngold: "the"

Text Authorship:

by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in As You Like It, Act II, Scene 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):

by Godfrey Edward Pellew Arkwright (1864 - 1944), "Under the greenwood tree", published [1902?] [ voice and piano ], from Nine Songs from Shakespeare, London, Joseph Williams [sung text not yet checked]
by Thomas Augustine Arne (1710 - 1778), "Under the greenwood tree", stanza 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Joseph W. Baber (b. 1937), "Under the greenwood tree ", op. 19 no. ? (1954-64), published 1976 [ high voice and piano ], from Shakespearean Songs, Lexington : Kelley [sung text not yet checked]
by Winifred May Bury (1897 - 1977), "Under the greenwood tree", 1931 [sung text not yet checked]
by Mary Grant Carmichael (1851 - 1935), "Under the greenwood tree", published 1885 [ SA chorus (or vocal duet for soprano and alto) with piano ], from Six Songs for two voices, from Shakespeare (reissued as Six Shakespeare Songs), no. 3, London : J. Curwen & Sons [sung text not yet checked]
by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Under the greenwood tree" [ high voice and piano ], from Shakespeare Songs, Book II, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Eric Coates (1886 - 1957), "Under the Greenwood Tree", published 1909, stanzas 1,2 [ voice and piano ], from Four Old English Songs, no. 3, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
by Louis Crerar , "Under the greenwood tree", 1952 [ high voice and piano ], from Four Shakespeare Songs [sung text not yet checked]
by Madeleine Dring (1923 - 1977), "Under the greenwood tree" [sung text checked 1 time]
by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "Under the greenwood tree", op. 36 no. 5, published 1956 [ mixed chorus and piano duet or small orchestra ], from Seven Songs, no. 5, London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "Under the greenwood tree", op. 66 no. 8, published 1964 [ women's chorus, piano duet, and optional percussion ], from A Shakespeare Sequence, no. 8, London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
by Steven R. Gerber (b. 1948), "Under the greenwood tree", 1988, stanzas 1-2 [ medium voice and piano ], from Six Songs of William Shakespeare, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "Under the greenwood tree", 1913-1914, published 1920, stanzas 1-2 [ mezzo-soprano and instrumental ensemble ], from Five Elizabethan Songs (The Elizas), no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Raymond Hanson (1913 - 1976), "Under the greenwood tree" [ six-part chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910 - 1998), "Under the greenwood tree", 1977 [ voice and piano ], from Seven Shakespeare Songs, London : Lengnick [sung text checked 1 time]
by Herbert Norman Howells (1892 - 1983), "Under the greenwood tree", op. 43 no. 1 (1928), published 1929, first performed 1928 [ soprano and orchestra or piano ], from In Green Ways, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Sven Eric Emanuel Johanson (1919 - 1997), "Under the greenwood tree", 1974, copyright © 1978 [ mixed chorus and piano ], from Fancies, no. 2, Stockholm : C. Gehrmans Musikförlag ; New York : Walton Music Corp. [sung text not yet checked]
by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897 - 1957), "Under the greenwood tree", op. 31 no. 2, published 1937 [ voice and piano ], from Four Shakespeare Songs, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Kenneth Leighton (1929 - 1988), "Under the greenwood tree", from 5 Shakespeare Songs, no. 5, available from the Kenneth Leighton Trust, e-mail jo (DOT) leighton (AT) blueyonder (DOT) co (DOT) uk [sung text checked 1 time]
by Ernest John Moeran (1894 - 1950), "Under the greenwood tree", R. 54 no. 1 (1930), published 1933 [ chorus ], from Songs of Springtime, no. 1, Novello [sung text not yet checked]
by Douglas Stuart Moore (1893 - 1969), "Under the greenwood tree", 1944, published 1944 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Olallo Morales (1874 - 1957), "Under the greenwood tree", 1944, published 1944 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "Under the greenwood tree", 1903, published 1903, from English Lyrics, Sixth Set, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "Under the greenwood tree", op. 23 no. 2 (1919), published 1921, stanzas 1-2 [ voice and piano ], from Five Shakespeare Songs (Second Set), no. 2, London, Boosey [sung text checked 1 time]
by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Under The Greenwood Tree", op. 371 (1952) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Under The Greenwood Tree", op. 674 (1966) [sung text not yet checked]
by Donna Gartman Schultz (b. 1948), "Under the greenwood tree" [ chorus ], from Two Shakespeare Songs [sung text not yet checked]
by Cyril Meir Scott (1879 - 1970), "Under the greenwood tree", 1895-6 [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by David Sisco , "Under the greenwood tree", 2000 [ tenor and piano ], from Two Shakespeare Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by William Walton (1902 - 1983), "Under the greenwood tree", 1936, published 1937 [ voice and orchestra or piano ], used in the film As You Like It [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in Danish (Dansk), a translation by Edvard Lembcke (1815 - 1897) ; composed by Peter Arnold Heise.
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Also set in French (Français), a translation by Camille de Sainte-Croix (1859 - 1915) ; composed by Paul Vidal.
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Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Carl Martin Reinthaler.
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Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767 - 1845) ; composed by Heinrich Elkamp.
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Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Jan Karol Gall.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
FRE French (Français) (François Pierre Guillaume Guizot)

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 26
Word count: 125

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