Greensleeves
A new Courtly Sonet, of the Ladie Greensleeves.
Chorus: Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight
Greensleeves was my heart of gold
And who but my Ladie Greensleeves
Alas, my love, you do me wrong
To cast me off discourteously
And I have lov-ed you so long
Delighting in your companie
(Chorus)
I have been ready at your hand
To grant whatever you would crave,
I have both waged life and land,
Your love and good-will for to have.
(Chorus)
I bought thee kerchers to thy head,
That were wrought fine and gallantly
I kept thee both boord and bed
Which cost my purse well favouredly
(Chorus)
I bought thee petticoats of the best,
The cloth so fine as might be;
I gave thee jewels for thy chest,
And all this cost I spent on thee.
(Chorus)
Thy smock of silk, both fair and white,
With gold embroidered gargeously;
Thy petticoat of sendal right,
And these I bought thee gladly
(Chorus)
Thy girdle of gold so red,
With pearles bedecked sumptuously;
The like no other lasses had,
And yet thou wouldst not love me
(Chorus)
Thy purse and eke thy gay gilt knives,
Thy pincase gallant to the eye;
No better wore the Burgesse wives
And yet thou wouldst not love me.
(Chorus)
Thy crimson stockings all of silk,
With golde all wrought above the knee,
Thy pumps as white as was the milk
And yet thou wouldst not love me.
(Chorus)
Thy gown was of the grossie green,
Thy sleeves of satten hanging by,
Why made thee be our harvest Queen.
And yet thou wouldst not love me.
(Chorus)
Thy garters fringed with the golde,
And silver aglets hanging by,
Which made thee blithe for to beholde
And yet thou wouldst not love me.
(Chorus)
My gayest gelding I thee gave,
To ride where ever liked thee,
No Ladie ever was so brave
And yet thou wouldst not love me.
(Chorus)
My men were clothed all in green,
And they did ever wait on thee;
All this was gallant to be seen
And yet thou wouldst not love me.
(Chorus)
They set thee up, they took thee downe,
They served thee with humilitie,
Thy foote might not once touch the ground
And yet thou wouldst not love me.
(Chorus)
For everie morning when thou rose,
I sent thee dainties orderly;
To cheare thy stomack from all woes
And yet thou wouldst not love me.
(Chorus)
Thou couldst desire no earthly thing,
But still thou hadst it readily;
Thy musicke still to play and sing
And yet thou wouldst not love me.
(Chorus)
And who did pay for all this geare,
That thou didst spend when pleased thee,
Even I that am rejected here
And thou disdainst to love me.
(Chorus)
Well I will pray to God on high,
That thou my constancy mayst see,
And that yet once before I die
Thou wilt vouchsafe to love me.
(Chorus)
Greensleeves, now farewell! adieu!
God I pray to prosper thee,
For I am still thy lover true,
Come once again and love me.
(Chorus)
Commentary
Note
sonet. Obs. rare. [a. OFr. sonet (sonnet), = Prov. sonet, f. son sound. ] Song, melody, music. – OED
One of my favorite songs - a 16th century english ballad called Greensleeves, by our old friend “Anon”. The song was first licensed to a printer called Richard Jones, but several others have claimed credit.
At least one version of this song’s origin says that Henry VIII wrote it about Anne Boleyn, but this is unlikely, as the style belongs to a period after Henry’s death, and the first printed version appeared during the reign of Elizabeth I.
Since then, it became a popular ballad, carried over by the englishmen to America, where it became one of the classic campfire ballads of the old west.
The classic 1962 western “How the West Was Won” had a theme song set to the “Greensleeves” tune - and “Ritchie Blackmore’s Night” has a beautiful cover of this old song (which I am listening to as I type this).
Blackmore’s brilliant guitaring adds to the magic of this old song (and sounds far better than the ringtone in my colleague’s cellphone - again “Greensleeves” ;)
A beautiful, haunting melody - and words which show the deep grief of a jilted man who has been rejected by a woman he has showered love and squandered his fortune on.
— Suresh
Martin adds
Greensleeves and Tolkien combine in the popular quote “Do not anger a bard, for thy name is silly, and scans to Greensleeves”.
And here's the hilarious Flanders and Swann sketch on the 'history' of
Greensleeves:
[broken link] http://timothyplatypus.tripod.com/FaS/hat_green.html
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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Ash Gulati · 28 May 2002
Greensleeves is the only poem that still makes me cry. Its haunting melody tugs at the heartstrings. I fully empathise with the poet - i know the feeling - BEEN THERE DONE THAT ! Niti Trilokekar
Hilkka Tabell · 13 January 2004
Very interesting - where could one find more info about the origins of this ballad?
Uri Bar Zeev · 13 March 2004
Dear all,
Can somebody send me an explanation as to the meaning of the name(?) greensleeves? Who was called so for what reason?
Please write to:
Thanks - Uri
Pat Taylor · 30 July 2004
Greensleeves were worn by prostitutes, when sleeves were still detachable to advertise their trade & seperate them from the goodwives of the town to prevent non-local men from insulting proper women. When the Sumptuary(sp?) Laws [who could wear clothes made of specific kinds of Fabrics & specific colors & when {Church laws designed, inforced & ment to lable people by station & keep them in their places} fell out of favor during the Protestant Reformation in Europe & under Henry VIII in England, (You could judge the price range from the quality of the material, Homespun was cheaper than Lace or Velvet). Additional information available from any standard European History text.
Sincerely,
Pat Taylor
Caroline Andrews · 21 September 2004
Back in the 1980s I had to sing Greensleeves as a solo at a fund-raising event attended by some very important people, including the local Member of Parliament. The event was being held in a very large 16th century house which the fundraisers were hoping to turn into a hospice for terminally ill children. It was a very grand event - evening dress was compulsory and one group of people even turned up in 16th century costume in a real horse-drawn carriage complete with footmen!
The idea was that there would be musicians in several of the rooms and the guests would wander around with their drinks and their plates of food into the different rooms and listen to us performing. I was accompanied by a lute teacher, but his lute was being mended so he played a guitar instead.
We musicians all had a break after about an hour and a half and we were allowed into the large tents on the lawns where the food was and we piled our plates high! We also had a couple of drinks each and we got talking to each other. The result was that, towards the end of the evening, we all got together and had an impromptu “jam session”. There was me and my accompanist, the West Indian steel band who’d been playing on the terrace and a few others I can’t remember now, but I think there was a flute or clarinet player and some string instrument players. There may have been another singer, but it was a long time ago. Everyone had a wonderful time and it certainly opened the purses of the backers, because the house was opened as a hospice just over two years later.
Dan Huzyk · 10 December 2006
Hello,
I remember, while at university back in the 1960’s, reading a published paper which was a musicological analysis of the “Greensleeves” melody. The study concluded that the melody did not originate either in England or anywhere is Western Europe, but that its components indicated an origin in Eastern Europe. Having sung variations of the song in several choirs, I was intrigued by the article, however now regret that I never photocopied it.