| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907. | | | | Spring | | By Thomas Nashe (1567–1601) |
| | | SPRING, 1 the sweet Spring, is the year’s pleasant king; | |
| Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring, | |
| Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing— | |
| Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo! | |
| |
| The palm and May 2 make country houses gay, | 5 |
| Lambs frisk and play, the shepherds pipe all day, | |
| And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay— | |
| Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo! | |
| |
| The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet, | |
| Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit, | 10 |
| In every street these tunes our ears do greet— | |
| Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo! | |
| Spring, the sweet Spring! | |
| | | Note 1. From Summer’s Last Will and Testament, 1600. [back] | | Note 2. The palm and May, etc. See note to Herrick’s Corinna’s Maying for this old custom of May Day. [back] | | |
|
|
|
