Spring, the sweet spring

General information

Lyricist: Thomas Nashe)

Settings by composers

• Francis Edward Gladstone SATB
• John Liptrot Hatton SATB
• George Oldroyd SSA

Other settings possibly not included in the manual list above

• Philip James — A spring song
• Ernest John Moeran — Spring, the sweet spring

Texts and Translations

English text

1  Spring, the sweet spring, is the year's pleasant king;
Then blooms each thing, then maidens dance in a ring;
The spring, the sweet spring.
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing,
Cuckoo, cuckoo, pu we to witta wee,
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing,
The sweet spring.

2  The palm and may make country houses gay,
Lambs frisk and play, the shepherds pipe all day
And we hear the birds tune their merry lay:
Cuckoo, cuckoo,…

3  The fields breathe sweet, the flowers kiss our feet,
Young lovers meet, old wives asunning sit.
The fields breathe sweet, flowers kiss our feet,
In ev'ry street these tunes our ears do greet:
Cuckoo, cuckoo,…