When daisies pied and violets blue And lady-smocks all silver white, And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, Do paint the meadows with delight, The cuckoo, then on ev'ry tree Mocks married men, for thus sings he, Cuckoo, Cuckoo, cuckoo: o word of fear, Unpleasing to a married ear. When shepherds pipe on oaten straws, And merry larks are ploughmen's clocks, When turtles tread, and rooks, and daws, And maidens bleach their summer smocks, The cuckoo, then on ev'ry tree Mocks married men, for thus sings he, Cuckoo, Cuckoo, cuckoo: o word of fear, Unpleasing to a married ear.
Four Songs from Love's Labours Lost
Song Cycle by Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956)
1. When daisies pied
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), appears in Love's Labour's Lost, Act V, Scene 2
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Kevät", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo)
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Anonymous/Unidentified Artist) , "Lied. Der Frühling", first published 1870
- NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Arild Bakke) , "Når spraglet tusenfryd", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
2. When icicles hang by the wall
When icicles hang by the wall And Dick the shepherd blows his nail, And Tom bears logs into the hall, And milk comes frozen home in pail; When blood is nipt and ways be foul, Then nightly sings the staring owl: Tu-who! Tu-whit! Tu-who! -- A merry note! While greasy Joan doth keel the pot. When all aloud the wind doth blow, And coughing drowns the parson's saw, And birds sit brooding in the snow, And Marian's nose looks red and raw; When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl Then nightly sings the staring owl: Tu-who! Tu-whit! Tu-who! -- A merry note! While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Love's Labour's Lost, Act V, Scene 2
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
3. If she be made of white and red
If she be made of white and red, Her faults will ne'er be known, For blushing cheeks by faults are bred And fears by pale white shown: Then if she fear, or be to blame, By this you shall not know, For still her cheeks possess the same Which native she doth owe. A dangerous rhyme, master, against the reason of white and red.
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), appears in Love's Labour's Lost, Act I, Scene 2.
Go to the general single-text view
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
4. False Concolinel
Is it not sure a deadly pain, To you I say that lovers be, When faithful hearts must needs refrain The one the other for to see? I you assure, ye may trust me, Of all the pains that ever I knew It is a pain that most I rue.
Text Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, "False Concolinel"
Go to the general single-text view
Research team for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor] , Mike Pearson