It was a lover and his lass

It was a lover and his lass,
  With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino
That o'er the green [corn-field]1 did pass.
  In [the]2 spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding a ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.

[Between the acres of the rye,
  With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
These pretty country [folks]3 would lie,
  In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding a ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring. ]4

[This carol they began that hour,
  With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
How that [a life]5 was but a flower
  In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding a ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.]6

[And therefore take the present time]7
  [With]8 a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
For love is crownéd with the prime
  In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding a ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.

by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) , no title, from As You Like It, Act V, Scene 3

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Gerard Barton (1861-?) , "It was a lover and his lass", published 1803.
by Dudley Buck (1839-1909) , "Spring Song", op. 76 (Five Songs) no. 2.
by Geoffrey Bush (1920-1998) , "It was a lover and his lass", 1956.
by Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) , "It was a lover and his lass", 1924, published 1925, from Three Old English Songs, no. 1.
by Henry Clough-Leighter (1874-1956) , "It was a lover and his lass", published 1906, stanzas 1,3.
by Frederick Delius (1862-1934) , "It was a lover and his lass", 1915-6, published 1919, stanzas 1-2,4 [voice and piano], from Four Old English Lyrics, no. 4.
by Madeleine Dring (1923-1977) , "It was a lover and his lass"
by Donald Edeson , "It was a lover and his lass" [TTBB chorus a cappella]
by Richard Bruce Faith (1926-) , "It was a lover and his lass"
by Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) , "It was a lover and his lass", op. 18 no. 5 (1940), from Let Us Garlands Bring, no. 5.
by Arthur Foote (1853-1937) , "It was a lover and his lass", op. 10 no. 1, published 1885, stanzas 1,4.
by Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910-1998) , "It was a lover and his lass", from Six Shakespeare Songs, no. ?
by Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910-1998) , "It was a lover and his lass" [soprano and baritone duet with piano], from Four Shakespeare Duets, no. 1.
by Frederick Keel (1871-1954) , "It was a lover and his lass"
by Betty Jackson King (1928-1994) , "In the springtime", lines 4-6.
by Erich Korngold (1897-1957) , "When birds do sing", op. 31 no. 4, from Four Shakespeare Songs, no. 4.
by Ernest John Moeran (1894-1950) , "The Lover and his Lass", 1940, published 1940 [high or medium voice and piano], from Four Shakespeare Songs, no. 1.
by Thomas Morley (1557-1602) , "It was a lover and his lass"
by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918) , "A spring song", op. 21 no. 2, published 1873 [choral], from A Garland of Shakesperian and Other Old-Fashioned Songs, no. 2.
by Roger Quilter (1877-1953) , "It was a lover and his lass", op. 23 no. 3.
by Peter Warlock (1894-1930) [pseudonym] , "Pretty ring time", 1925, published 1925.

by (Philipp) Friedrich Silcher (1789-1860) , "Süß' Liebe liebt den Mai" [four voices]

FIN Finnish (Paavo Cajander)

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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