He bore him into an orchard brown.
(Chorus)
Lully, lullay, lully, lullay!
The falcon has borne my make away.
And in that hall there standeth a bed:
It was hanged with gold so red;
(Chorus)
And on that bed there lieth a knight,
His woundis bledyng day and night;
(Chorus)
And by that side there kneleth a may,
And she wepeth both night and day;
(Chorus)
And by that bed there standeth a stone,
“Corpus Christi” written thereon.
(Chorus)
Key "make" = "mate"; "may" = "maid"; "Corpus Christi" = "body of Christ"
There are many variants of title and lyrics, and even more of the melody.
But this is the tune I regard as definitive (although the performance is only adequate IMO - I can't find any better online).
It is composed in the Doric/ Dorian Mode, which runs from D to D on the white notes of a piano; and is characterized by a minor third and a flattened seventh (no "leading note"). This lends a suitably "medieval" quality to the ancient song.
This "carol" (it isn't really a carol) is very mysterious in its subject matter; seeming like an imaginary journey of initiation as we are led from scene to scene to a climatic revelation - none of which scenes are explained, and all of which seem "symbolic" in some way.
Some ideas about the poem are that it is to do with a slain knight and his betrothed, the Holy Grail and the Fisher King; or Mary and Jesus (maybe the Blessed Virgin Mary, or perhaps Mary Magdalene) - or perhaps all of these at the same time.
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