Page 142 - the-merry-adventures-of-robin-hood

‘Bewitched was I, in bitter pain,
But thou hast set me free,
So now I am myself again,
I give myself to thee.‘

‘Yea, truly,’ quoth Robin Hood, when the Tanner had
made an end of singing, ‘it is as I remember it, a fair ditty,
and a ballad with a pleasing tune of a song.’
‘It hath oftentimes seemed to me,’ said Will Scarlet, ‘that
it hath a certain motive in it, e’en such as this: That a duty
which seemeth to us sometimes ugly and harsh, when we
do kiss it fairly upon the mouth, so to speak, is no such foul
thing after all.’
‘Methinks thou art right,’ quoth Robin, ‘and, contrariwise,
that when we kiss a pleasure that appeareth gay it turneth
foul to us; is it not so, Little John? Truly such a thing hath
brought thee sore thumps this day. Nay, man, never look
down in the mouth. Clear thy pipes and sing us a ditty.’
‘Nay,’ said Little John, ‘I have none as fair as that mer-
ry Arthur has trolled. They are all poor things that I know.
Moreover, my voice is not in tune today, and I would not
spoil even a tolerable song by ill singing.’
Upon this all pressed Little John to sing, so that when he
had denied them a proper length of time, such as is seemly
in one that is asked to sing, he presently yielded. Quoth he,
‘Well, an ye will ha’ it so, I will give you what I can. Like to
fair Will, I have no title to my ditty, but thus it runs:

‘O Lady mine, the spring is here,

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