Richard Alison
 (fl.1586 - 1606)

My prime of youth is but a frost of cares
 (S.S.A.B.)
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148318 : Alison : My prime of youth is but a frost of cares : sheet music
Catalogued as Choral - Secular

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Published in An Howres Recreation in Musicke, London, 1606, and (according to the frontispiece) "framed for the delight of gentlemen and others which are well affected to that quality; all for the most part with two trebles necessary for such as teach in private families". Chidiock's text was written on the eve of his execution for his part in the Babington plot, 1586.
Lyrics: Chidiock Tichborne

My prime of youth is but a frost of cares;
My feast of joy is but a dish of pain;
My crop of corn is but a field of tares,
And all my good is but vain hope of gain:
My life is fled, and yet I saw no sun,
And now I live, and now my life is done.

The spring is past, and yet it hath not sprung;
The fruit is dead, and yet my leaves are green;
My youth is spent, and yet I am but young;
I saw the world, and yet I was not seen:
My thread is cut, and yet it is not spun,
And now I live, and now my life is done.