Page:Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900.djvu/209

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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.

        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.


137. It was a Lover and his Lass

It 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,