BalladEnglishregistered 1580, printed 1584
Greensleeves
Greensleeves is an anonymous English love song from the reign of Elizabeth I. A lover complains that the Lady Greensleeves has cast him off despite every gift he gave her, and the haunting tune has outlived almost every other ballad of its age.
- In the video
- The King's Singers
- Context
- "A new Courtly Sonet, of the Lady Greensleeues", in A Handful of Pleasant Delights (1584)
- Year
- registered 1580, printed 1584
- Language
- English
Greensleeves lyrics
Original 1584 spelling (u for v, i for j). The full ballad has eighteen verses; this page carries the refrain, the first five verses and the final two. The opening word "Alas" is printed with a decorative initial in the source.
Greensleeues was all my ioy, Greensleeues was my delight: Greensleeues was my hart of gold, And who but Ladie Greensleeues.
Alas my loue, ye do me wrong, to cast me off discurteously: And I haue loued you so long, Delighting in your companie. Greensleeues was all my ioy, Greensleeues was my delight: Greensleeues was my heart of gold, And who but Ladie Greensleeues.
I haue been readie at your hand, to grant what euer you would craue. I haue both waged life and land, your loue and good will for to haue. Greensleeues was all my ioy, &c.
I bought thee kerchers to thy head, that were wrought fine and gallantly: I kept thee both at boord and bed, Which cost my purse wel fauouredly, Greensleeues was al my ioie, &c.
I bought thee peticotes of the best, the cloth so fine as fine might be: I gaue thee iewels for thy chest, and all this cost I spent on thee. Greensleeues was all my ioie, &c.
Thy smock of silk, both faire and white, with gold embrodered gorgeously: Thy peticote of Sendall right: and thus I bought thee gladly. Greensleeues was all my ioie, &c.
Wel, I wil pray to God on hie, that thou my constancie maist see: And that yet once before I die, thou wilt vouchsafe to loue me. Greensleeues was all my ioy, &c.
Greensleeues now farewel adue God I pray to prosper thee: For I am stil thy louer true, come once againe and loue me. Greensleeues was all my ioy, &c.
The story behind Greensleeves
A ballad called "A new Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleeves" was licensed to the printer Richard Jones at the Stationers' Company in September 1580, and within weeks rival versions, answers and moral parodies were entered as well. The earliest surviving text appears in A Handful of Pleasant Delights, printed by Jones in 1584.
The tune was famous enough for Shakespeare to mention it twice in The Merry Wives of Windsor. A popular story credits the song to Henry VIII, but there is no evidence for this, and the musical style points to a later Elizabethan date.
The melody has been reused for many other songs, including the Christmas carol "What Child Is This?" (1865), and it has been arranged for choirs, guitar and orchestra ever since.
What Greensleeves means
The song is a lover's complaint. In each verse the speaker lists another gift lavished on Greensleeves: kerchiefs, petticoats, a silk smock, a golden girdle, crimson stockings, even servants dressed in green. Each list ends with the same sting: "and yet thou wouldst not love me".
The refrain idealises her as "all my joy" and "my heart of gold", while the verses quietly reveal a relationship built on spending. The final verse turns from reproach to farewell and hope, as the speaker remains "thy lover true" and asks her to come back.
The colour green was linked in the period with youth, spring and love, which adds to the song's mix of longing and gentle irony.
Quick facts
- A ballad of "the Lady Greene Sleeves" was licensed at the Stationers' Company in September 1580.
- The earliest surviving text was printed in A Handful of Pleasant Delights (1584).
- Shakespeare mentions the tune twice in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
- The popular claim that Henry VIII wrote it has no supporting evidence.
- The carol "What Child Is This?" (1865) is sung to the same tune.