Nature
O say, dear life, when shall these twin-born berries
From Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age, ed. A. H. Bullen (London: Nimmo, 1891)
O say, dear life, when shall these twin-born berries,
So lovely-ripe, by my rude lips be tasted?
Shall I not pluck (sweet, say not nay) those cherries?
O let them not with summer's heat be blasted.
Nature, thou know'st, bestow'd them free on thee;
Then be thou kind—bestow them free on me.
Codex Note
From John Ward's First Set of English Madrigals, 1613.
Cite this poem
MLA
Anonymous (Elizabethan songs). “O say, dear life, when shall these twin-born berries.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-elizabethan-songs/98/.
Chicago
Anonymous (Elizabethan songs). “O say, dear life, when shall these twin-born berries.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-elizabethan-songs/98/.
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