Pastime With Good Company
By Henry VIII

Pastime with good company
I love and shall unto I die.
Grudge whoso will, but none deny,
So God be pleased, this live will I.
For my pastance
Hunt, sing, and dance.
My heart is set
All goodly sport
To my comfort.
Who shall me let?

Youth will have needs dalliance,
Of good or ill some pastance.
Company me thinketh then best
All thoftes and fantasies to digest.
For idleness
Is chief mistress
Of vices all.
Than who can say
But "pass the day"
Is best of all?

Company with honesty
Is virtue, and vice to flee.
Company is good or ill
But every man hath his free will.
The best ensue,
The worst eschew,
My mind shall be.
Virtue to use,
Vice to refuse,
I shall use me.

 



The Prodigal Son in the Tavern, c 1540.
By someone in the circle of Jan Cornelis.


Audio Excerpt from the CD
Henry VIII: If Love Now Reigned


O Tempo Canta performing at Palacio da Independencia, Lisbon, Feb '06

Backto Works of Henry VIII

Site copyright ©1996-2007 Anniina Jokinen. All rights reserved.
Created by Anniina Jokinen on October 9, 1997. Last updated on December 14, 2006.