| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907. | | | | My Lady Greensleeves | | Anonymous |
| | | ALAS! 1 my love, you do me wrong | |
| To cast me off discourteously; | |
| And I have lovèd you so long, | |
| Delighting in your company. | |
| For oh, Greensleeves was all my joy! | 5 |
| And oh, Greensleeves was my delight! | |
| And oh, Greensleeves was my heart of gold! | |
| And who but my Lady Greensleeves! | |
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| I bought thee petticoats of the best, | |
| The cloth as fine as might be; | 10 |
| I gave thee jewels for thy chest, | |
And all this cost I spent on thee.
For oh, Greensleeves … | |
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| Thy smock of silk, both fair and white, | |
| With gold embroidered gorgeously: | |
| Thy petticoat of sendal right: | 15 |
And these I bought thee gladly.
For oh, Greensleeves … | |
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| Greensleeves now farewell! adieu! | |
| God I pray to prosper thee! | |
| For I am still thy lover true: | |
Come once again and love me!
For oh, Greensleeves … | 20 |
| | | Note 1. These words of the famous song Green-sleeves were composed before 1580. [back] | | |
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