by Richard Barnfield (1574 - 1627)
When will my May come
Language: English
When will my May come, that I may embrace thee? When will the hower be of my soules joying? If thou wilt come and dwell with me at home, My sheepcote shall be strowed with new greene rushes Weele haunt the trembling prickets as they rome About the fields, along the hauthorne bushes; I have a pie-bald curre to hunt the hare, So we will live with daintie forrest fare. And when it pleaseth thee to walke abroad Abroad into the fields to take fresh ayre, The meades with Floras treasure should be strowde, The mantled meaddowes, and the fields so fayre. And by a silver well with golden sands Ile sit me downe, and wash thine ivory hands. But it thou wilt not pittie my complaint, My teares, nor vowes, nor oathes, made to thy beautie: What shall I do but languish, die, or faint, Since thou dost scorne my teares, and my soules duetie: And teares contemned, vowes and oaths must faile, And where teares cannot, nothing can prevaile. When will my May come, that I may embrace thee?
Authorship:
- by Richard Barnfield (1574 - 1627) [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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "When will my May come", op. 44 no. 9 (1949) [soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, mixed chorus, boys' chorus, and orchestra], from Spring Symphony, no. 9. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Ahmed E. Ismail
This text was added to the website: 2004-07-04
Line count: 21
Word count: 181