The Golden Treasury of English Songs and Lyrics/Book 1/Poem 8

by William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

For other versions of this work, see It Was a Lover and His Lass.

viii

It was a lover and his lass
With a hey and a ho, and a hey-nonino!
That o’er the green cornfield 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
These pretty country folks would lie:

This carol they began that hour,
How that life was but a flower:

And therefore take the present time
With a hey and a ho and a hey-nonino!
For love is crownéd with the prime
In spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing hey ding a ding:
Sweet lovers love the Spring.
W. Shakespeare