English Madrigal Verse

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Apart from the purely literary interest which a complete collection of these poems should arouse, a definite need of such an edition is being felt by those, and they are no inconsiderable number, who are first brought into contact with the lyrics through musical channels. The names of the authors of the words were never given in'the Elizabethan song-books, and, although the authorship of some few of the poems is definitely known, the identification of the greater number is a task beyond those who may become familiar with the words only through the medium of the music for it must be remembered that only a small fraction of the madrigal music has as yet been re printed in modern and accessible form,1 and that in modern editions of the music the authorship of the words is not always recorded even when known. The complete edition of the lyrics now issued, which is based solely upon the original part-books, will, it is hoped, fill all these needs.