Page:Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1918.djvu/221

 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,

That dost not bite so nigh As benefits forgot:

Though thou the waters warp,

Thy sting is not so sharp

As friend remember'd not.

Heigh ho' sing, heigh ho' unto the green holly: Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly.

Then heigh ho, the holly!

This life is most jolly.

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��147 It was a Lover and his Lass

was a lover and his lass, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, That o'er the green corn-field did pass,

In the spring time, the only pretty ring time, When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding; Sweet lovers love the spring.

Between the acres of the rye,

With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, These pretty country folks would lie,

In the spring time, the only pretty ring time, When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding; Sweet lovers love the spring.

This carol they began that hour,

With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,

How that life was but a flower

In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,

When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding;

Sweet lovers love the spring.

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