Lay a Garland is a popular English poem from the play The Maid's Tragedy written in 1608-11 by the Renaissance playwright Francis Beaumont
Pearsall here develops the use of the suspension to exquisite lengths, in this perfectly formed and mournful work, developing the secular practices of such composers such as Thomas Morley. First published in 1619. Famously set to music by Robert Lucas de Pearsall in June 1840 and scored for SSAATTBB in Eb. The work is most often performed by choirs in a liturgical setting, as the original words for the music are more appropriate to a secular occasion.
The song is sung by Aspasia where her betrothed is forced into a marriage of convenience to the king's mistress.
The original words are as follows:
Lay a garland on my hearse
of the dismal yew.
Maidens, willow branches wear,
say I died true.
My love was false, but I was firm
from my hour of birth.
Upon my buried body lie lightly, gentle earth.
