This ballad was written by an anonymous author in 1629. The ballad tells a story of two lovers who are parted. While the man is away, the woman plays her musical instrument as a way to express sorrow of his absence and as a way to bring him back to her. When the man returns, she scolds him for being gone so long, but forgives him and allows his punishment to be “a thousand kisses” for every hour he was away. The ballad ends with the man leaving his lover alone again with her music.
In the translation of this ballad, the spelling was modernized. The translation involved dropping vowels that are no longer in use, for example, the “e” was dropped from the end of words: “complaine” was changed to “complain.” Secondly, the letter ‘f’ was replaced with the modern ‘s,’ for example: “but ftill” was changed to “but still.” Other words were changed to fit the modernized language, for example words such as “thou” and “thee” were changed. A large majority of the original punctuation has remained unchanged. Any added punctuation, such as quotation marks, was added to separate spoken words from the poem to allow the reader to clearly recognize dialogue within the poem.
This translation used the Oxford English Dictionary as a primary source for definitions, translations and word choice. Another translation of this text was used for reference and was found on the University of California’s Santa Barbara English Broadside Ballad Archive website: http://ebba.english.ucsb.edu/ballad/20011/xm.
A Pleasant New Ballad of Two Lovers to a Pleasant New Tune
Complain1 my lute* complain on him
that stays so long away,
He promised to be here ere this*, *before this
but still unkind do stay,
But now the proverb I find true2,
“once out of sight then out of mind”:
Hey ho, my heart is full of woe.
Peace, lyer* peace, it is not so *liar
he will by and by* be here: *continuously
But everyone that is in love,
thinks every hour a year
Listen, listen,3 I think I hear one knock
run quickly then and turn the lock,
Then farewell all my care and woe.
Come gallant* now, come loiterer *gentleman
for I must chide*4 with you: *give loud utterance to anger
But yet I will forgive you once,
come sit down by me,
Fair lady rest yourself content,
I will endure your punishment,
And then we shall be friends again.
For every hour that I have stayed,
so long from you away,
A thousand kisses I will give,
receive them ready pay,*5 * willingly
And if we dare to count amisse* *away from the mark
again we will reckon them every kiss,
For he is blessed that is punished so.
And if those thousand kisses then, 6
we chance to count aright* *to make right/ to treat properly
We shall not need to count again
until we are in bed doe light:7
And then be sure that then shall have,
you reckoning just as you shall crave.
So shall we still agree as one.
And thus they spent the silent night,
in sweet delightful sport, *fun
Until Phoebus* with his beams so bright, *the sun personified
from out of the fiery port
Did blush to see the sweet content,
in sable* night so vainly spent, *black
Betwixt* these two lovers.8 *between
And then this gallant* did persuade, *gentleman
that he might now be gone:
“Sweetheart” quoth* he, “I am afraid, *said
that I have stayed too long.”
“And will you then be gone,” qouth she,
“and will no longer stay with me:
Then welcome all my care and woe.”
And then she took her lute in hand,
and thus* began to play, *in this way
Her heart was faint, she could not stand,
but on her bed she lay,
“And are you gone my love,” quoth she,
“complain my Lute, complain with me
Until he does comes again.”
1. Complain: This term, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary means, “To give expression to sorrow or suffering.” In this context, the woman expresses her sorrow of missing her lover by playing her musical instrument (“Complain my lute”).
2. But now the proverb I find true: originally read, “But now the proverbe true I finde.” The words “true” and “I find” are reversed in order. The sentence structured is changed and the rhyme of the next line no longer follows. The editorial decision to disrupt the rhyme was made in order to allow the sentence to read more grammatically and fluidly.
3. Listen, listen: Originally read, “Harke, harke.” The Oxford English Dictionary defines “harke” as “to give ear to listen to; to hearken to, hear with active attention.” The words were changed to “listen” in order to fit the modernization of the text.
4. Chide: As defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “to give loud or impassioned utterance to anger, displeasure, disapprobation, reproof.” Though there are multiple meanings to the word. This definition was chosen because it was more cohesive in the poem and made the most sense in the context of the stanza.
5. Ready pay: This expression is not defined by the Oxford English Dictionary. Other edited versions of this ballad did not show change in this wording. After discussion with other student translators the editorial decision to define the expression as “willingly,” for it made most sense in the context of the line and stanza.
6. And if those thousand kisses then: In the original version the line read, “And if those those thousand kisses then.” The repeated “those” has been deleted in this version.
7. doe light: This expression is not defined by the Oxford English Dictionary. Any definitions that come from each word do not make sense in the content of the poem. No other edited versions of this ballad show change in the wording, and do not offer any definitions or explanation to the meaning of the expression.
8. Betwixt* these two lovers: The original version reads, “Betwist these lovers two.” The order of the last two words was reversed to make the sentence more grammatically correct.
A student in class mentioned that she had heard of an old Indian tale about a woman, like the woman in A Pleasant New Ballad, that played music while her husband went away as an expression of sadness. I attempted some internet research to look for this old tale but had no luck. I am interested in finding it so that I can look at the two together and see the similarities and differences. I think it would be really interesting to look at and study!
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