My prime of youth is but a frost of cares - Allison, Richard

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"Tichborne's text was purportedly written on the eve of his execution for his part in Babington's plot, 1586. Despite his deeply Catholic associations, the elegy was was set by composers of lugubrious bent of all denominations."

⌛ Period → Renaissance ◈ Genre → Madrigals ♬ Voicing → SSAB ¶ Language → English

Parts 4

Instruments A cappella

Pages 11

CPDL # 69958

Editor Christopher Shaw

Posted 2022-07-11

License Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike

¶Lyrics / Text

My prime of youth is but a frost of cares; My feast of joy is but a dish of pain; My crop of corn is but a field of tares, And all my good is but vain hope of gain: My life is fled, and yet I saw no sun, And now I live, and now my life is done. The spring is past, and yet it hath not sprung; The fruit is dead, and yet my leaves are green; My youth is spent, and yet I am but young; I saw the world, and yet I was not seen: My thread is cut, and yet it is not spun, And now I live, and now my life is done.