Can she excuse my wrongs?
from Unquiet Thoughts: English lute songs from the Golden Age by Mignarda
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Can shee excuse my wrongs? John Dowland (c. 1563 – 1626)
The text of “Can she excuse my wrongs” has been attributed to Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (1565 – 1601), but there is no undisputable evidence that this is the case. The theme of the poetry bears similarity to “To plead my faith”, which is verifiably by Essex and was set by Daniel Batcheler in Robert Dowland’s Musicall Banquet, 1610. The clearest
evidence linking the ayre to the Earl of Essex is that Dowland’s tune for “Can she excuse” was titled “The Earle of Essex Galiard” in Dowland's instrumental collection Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares, 1604. In the third strain, Dowland effortlessly quotes the 16th-century ballad tune, “Will yow walke the woods soe wylde”, perhaps alluding Essex’s habit of retreating to his wooded estate Wanstead after his many self-imposed public humiliations before the Queen. The instrumental galliard was quite popular and was arranged by Dowland and others for a variety of instruments, including the 1609 arrangement by Thomas Robinson, the unattributed “Can shee” in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, and the “Galliard Can she excuse” arranged for “broken consort” in Thomas Morley's 1599 First Booke of Consort Lessons.
The text of “Can she excuse my wrongs” has been attributed to Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (1565 – 1601), but there is no undisputable evidence that this is the case. The theme of the poetry bears similarity to “To plead my faith”, which is verifiably by Essex and was set by Daniel Batcheler in Robert Dowland’s Musicall Banquet, 1610. The clearest
evidence linking the ayre to the Earl of Essex is that Dowland’s tune for “Can she excuse” was titled “The Earle of Essex Galiard” in Dowland's instrumental collection Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares, 1604. In the third strain, Dowland effortlessly quotes the 16th-century ballad tune, “Will yow walke the woods soe wylde”, perhaps alluding Essex’s habit of retreating to his wooded estate Wanstead after his many self-imposed public humiliations before the Queen. The instrumental galliard was quite popular and was arranged by Dowland and others for a variety of instruments, including the 1609 arrangement by Thomas Robinson, the unattributed “Can shee” in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, and the “Galliard Can she excuse” arranged for “broken consort” in Thomas Morley's 1599 First Booke of Consort Lessons.
lyrics
Can shee excuse my wrongs with vertues cloak?
Shall I call her good when she proues vnkind?
Are those cleer fires which vanish into smoak?
Must I praise the leaues where no fruit I find?
No no: where shadows do for bodies stand,
Thou maist be abusde if thy sight be dim.
Cold love is like to words written on sand,
Or to bubbles which on the water swim.
Wilt thou be thus abused still,
Seeing that she wil right thee neuer?
If thou canst not orecome her will,
Thy loue wil be thus fruitles euer.
Was I so base, that I might not aspire,
Vnto those high ioyes which she holds from me?
As they are high, so high is my desire:
If she this denie, what can granted be?
If she will yeeld to that which reason is,
It is reasons will that loue should be iust.
Deare make me happy still by granting this,
Or cut off delayes if that die I must.
Better a thousand times to die,
Then for to liue thus still tormented:
Deare but remember it was I,
Who for thy sake did die contented.
Shall I call her good when she proues vnkind?
Are those cleer fires which vanish into smoak?
Must I praise the leaues where no fruit I find?
No no: where shadows do for bodies stand,
Thou maist be abusde if thy sight be dim.
Cold love is like to words written on sand,
Or to bubbles which on the water swim.
Wilt thou be thus abused still,
Seeing that she wil right thee neuer?
If thou canst not orecome her will,
Thy loue wil be thus fruitles euer.
Was I so base, that I might not aspire,
Vnto those high ioyes which she holds from me?
As they are high, so high is my desire:
If she this denie, what can granted be?
If she will yeeld to that which reason is,
It is reasons will that loue should be iust.
Deare make me happy still by granting this,
Or cut off delayes if that die I must.
Better a thousand times to die,
Then for to liue thus still tormented:
Deare but remember it was I,
Who for thy sake did die contented.
credits
from Unquiet Thoughts: English lute songs from the Golden Age,
released April 10, 2021
Donna Stewart, voice
Ron Andrico, lute
Donna Stewart, voice
Ron Andrico, lute
license
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about
Mignarda Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Mignarda specializes in thoughtful programming illuminating the vibrant mingling of renaissance music & poetry. Noted for awakening modern audiences to an appreciation for historical music, their work encompasses concertizing, teaching & recording, with 17 critically-acclaimed CDs, a series of 16 music editions, scholarly articles, reviews and the internationally-popular blog, Unquiet Thoughts. ... more
discography
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Jun 2022 -
Sep 2021 -
Apr 2021 -
Nov 2020
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