The Lovebirds

32×30 inches, oil on linen
private collection

SONG: “IT WAS A LOVER AND HIS LASS”
(from As You Like It)

It was a lover and his lass, 
   With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, 
That o’er the green cornfield did pass, 
In springtime, 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, 
Those pretty country folks would lie, 
In springtime, 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 a life was but a flower 
In springtime, the only pretty ring time, 
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding; 
Sweet lovers love the spring. 

And therefore take the present time, 
   With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, 
For love is crownèd with the prime 
In springtime, the only pretty ring time, 
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding; 
Sweet lovers love the spring.

~ by William Shakespeare (1564-1616)