The time of youth is to be spent,
But vice in it should be forfent.
Pastimes there be, I note truly
Which one may use and vice deny.
And they be pleasant to God and man:
Those should we covet when we can,
As feats of arms, and such other
Whereby activeness one may utter.
Comparisons in them may lawfully be set,
For, thereby, courage is surely out fet.
Virtue it is, then, youth for to spend
In good disports which it does fend.
Green Groweth the Holly
Green groweth the holly, so doth the ivy.
Though winter blasts blow never so high,
Green groweth the holly.
As the holly groweth green
And never changeth hue,
So I am, and ever hath been,
Unto my lady true.
Green
groweth the holly, so doth the ivy.
Though winter blasts blow never so high,
Green groweth the holly.
As the holly groweth green,
With ivy all alone,
When flowerys cannot be seen
And green-wood leaves be gone,
Green groweth the holly, so doth the ivy.
Though winter blasts blow never so high,
Green groweth the holly.
Now unto my lady
Promise to her I make:
From all other only
To her I me betake.
Green groweth the holly, so doth the ivy.
Though winter blasts blow never so high,
Green groweth the holly.
Adieu, mine own lady,
Adieu, my specïal,
Who hath my heart truly,
Be sure, and ever shall.
Green groweth the holly, so doth the ivy.
Though winter blasts blow never so high,
Green groweth the holly.
Though that Men do Call it Dotage
Though
that men do call it dotage,
Who loveth not wanteth courage;
And whosoever may love get,
From Venus sure he must it fet,
Or else from her which is her heir,
And she to him must seem most fair.
With eye and mind doth both agree.
There is no boot: there must it be.
The eye doth look and represent,
But mind afformeth with full consent.
Thus am I fixed without grudge:
Mine eye with heart doth me so judge.
Love maintaineth all noble courage.
Who love disdaineth is all of the village:
Such lovers—though they take pain—
It were pity they should obtain,
For often times where they do sue
They hinder lovers that would be true.
For whoso loveth should love but once.
Change whoso will, I will be none.
Definitions: forfent=forbidden, fet=gained, fend=protect
BIO: King Henry VIII of England and Ireland (1491-1547)--bold, brash, and demanding-- was forced to marry his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon. The marriage was not a happy one and produced only one child, Mary Tudor. Henry wanted a son who would succeed to the throne. After much violent debate, Henry broke away from the Holy Roman Catholic Church and divorced Catherine. His second wife, Anne Boleyn, gave birth to the future queen, Elizabeth, but was thereafter accused of adultery and beheaded. Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour, produced Edward VI, to Henry's great delight, and then died in 1551. Fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, was divorced. Fifth wife, Catherine Howard, was beheaded. Henry's sixth wife, Katherine Parr, survived Henry's death in 1547. One of Henry's hymns, O Lord, the Maker of all Things, can still be occasionally heard in English cathedrals.
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