Nature
The Nightingale so pleasant and so gay
From Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age, ed. A. H. Bullen (London: Nimmo, 1891)
The Nightingale so pleasant and so gay
In greenwood groves delights to make his dwelling,
In fields to fly, chanting his roundelay,
At liberty, against the cage rebelling;
But my poor heart with sorrows over swelling,
Through bondage vile, binding my freedom short,
No pleasure takes in these his sports excelling,
Nor in his song receiveth no comfort.
Codex Note
From William Byrd's Songs of Sundry Natures, 1589.
Cite this poem
MLA
Anonymous (Elizabethan songs). “The Nightingale so pleasant and so gay.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-elizabethan-songs/140/.
Chicago
Anonymous (Elizabethan songs). “The Nightingale so pleasant and so gay.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-elizabethan-songs/140/.
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