Down-a-down, hey, down-a-down,
Hey derry derry down-a-down!
Close with the tenor boy;
Ho! well done, to me let come,
Ring compass, gentle joy.

Cold's the wind, and wet's the rain,
Saint Hugh be our good speed:

Ill is the weather that bringeth no gain,
Nor helps good hearts in need.

THOMAS DEKKER, The Pleasant Comedy of Patient Grissell, acted 1599.

O SWEET CONTENT.

ART thou poor, yet hast thou golden slumbers?
O sweet content!

Art thou rich, yet is thy mind perplexèd?
O punishment!

Dost thou laugh to see how fools are vexèd
To add to golden numbers, golden numbers?
O sweet content! O sweet O sweet content!
Work apace, apace, apace, apace;
Honest labor bears a lovely face;
Then hey nonny nonny, hey nonny nonny!

Canst drink the waters of the crispèd spring?

O sweet content!

Swimm'st thou in wealth, yet sink'st in thine own tears?
O punishment!

Then he that patiently want's burden bears
No burden bears, but is a king, a king!

O sweet content! O sweet O sweet content!

ΙΟ

15

Work apace, apace, apace, apace;
Honest labor bears a lovely face;

Then hey nonny nonny, hey nonny nonny!

Care is heavy, therefore sleep you;

You are care, and care must keep you.
Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,

And I will sing a lullaby:

Rock them, rock them, lullaby.

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5

ΙΟ

ROBERT DEVEREUX, Earl of
Essex, Certain Verses (Ashm.
MS.), written about 1599.

A PASSION OF MY LORD OF ESSEX.

HAPPY were he could finish forth his fate

In some unhaunted desert, most obscure From all society, from love and hate

Of worldly folk, there might he sleep secure ; There wake again, and give God ever praise,

Content with hips and haws and brambleberry,

In contemplation passing still his days,

5

And change of holy thoughts to make him merry. That when he dies, his tomb might be a bush, Where harmless robin dwells with gentle thrush.

IO

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, As You
Like It, acted 1599.

UNDER THE GREENWOOD TREE.

UNDER the greenwood tree

Who loves to lie with me,

And turn his 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 pleased with what he gets,

Come hither, come hither, come hither:

Here shall he see

No enemy

But winter and rough weather.

MAN'S INGRATITUDE.

BLOW, blow, thou winter wind,

Thou art not so unkind

As man's ingratitude;

Thy tooth is not so keen,

Because thou art not seen,

Although thy breath be rude.

Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly:

Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:

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15

IO

5

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
That dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,

Thy sting is not so sharp

As friend remembred not.

Heigh-ho sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly.
Then heigh-ho, the holly!

This life is most jolly.

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 did pass

In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey 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 would lie,

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5

In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,

10

When birds do sing, hey ding a ding,

Sweet lovers love the Spring.

This carol they began that hour,

With a hey, and a ho, and a hey-nonino,

How that a life was but a flower

In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding,

Sweet lovers love the Spring.

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And therefore take the present time,

With a hey, and a ho, and a hey-nonino,
For love is crownèd with the prime

In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding,

Sweet lovers love the Spring.

JOHN DONNE, Poems, with Ele-
gies on the Author's Death,
1633; written 1590-1600.

SONG.

Go and catch a falling star,
Get with child a mandrake root,
Tell me where all past hours are,

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