La partition « Fortune my foe »

 

Paroles

There is a reference to this song in Shakespeare's The merry wives of Windsor, Act III, Scene 3, where Falstaff says "I see what thou wert, if Fortune thy foe were not, Nature thy friend." The air apppears in a setting by William Byrd in The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book which places it between 1550 and 1620.

1. Fortune, my foe, why dost thou frown on me ?
And will thy favours never greater be ?
Wilt thou, I say, for ever breed me pain ?
And wilt thou ne'er restore my joys againe ?

2. Fortune hath wrought me grief and great annoy.
Fortune hath falsely stolen my love away.
My love and joy whose sight did make me glad.
Such great misfortunes never young man had.