Day 75: Greensleeves

Ok....I love this song because it is surrounded by folklore, and I love learning all the stories that are a part of stuff like this. Some say that "Greensleeves" is actually Anne Boelyn, and that Henry VIII wrote it for her while she was his wife...too bad it didn't save her from getting her head chopped off :S. Some also say that this is just a ballad of unrequited love, the kind where the man sings as she stands at the balcony listening, like Cyrano de Bourgerac whispering poetry to Christian while Roxanne thinks its Christian all the while (French tragedy....isn't it depressing?). No one knows who really wrote the lyrics, though. It also is the tune to the Christmas song "What Child Is This?", although the lyrics in the Christmas carol are attributed to William Chatterton Dix, who after a near-death experience wrote the lyrics and it was set to the English tune. There are also several different sets of lyrics to "What Child is This?", though for now I am just going to give you the "original" lyrics to Greensleeves.

Alas, my love, you do me wrong,
To cast me off discourteously.
For I have loved you well and long,
Delighting in your company.

Chorus:
Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady greensleeves.

Your vows you've broken, like my heart,
Oh, why did you so enrapture me?
Now I remain in a world apart
But my heart remains in captivity.

chorus

I have been ready at your hand,
To grant whatever you would crave,
I have both wagered life and land,
Your love and good-will for to have.

chorus

If you intend thus to disdain,
It does the more enrapture me,
And even so, I still remain
A lover in captivity.

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

Thou couldst desire no earthly thing,
but still thou hadst it readily.
Thy music still to play and sing;
And yet thou wouldst not 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

Ah, Greensleeves, now farewell, adieu,
To God I pray to prosper thee,
For I am still thy lover true,
Come once again and love me.

chorus

By the way, we are now officially three quarters of the way through our journey....Thank you to those of you who have joined me for this journey, and for those who have brought this to light for others (I also just realized that there are two extra verses to Greensleeves that I have never seen or heard before....Nice.)!