IN a harbour grene aslepe whereas I lay,
The byrdes sang swete in the middes of the day,
I dreamed fast of mirth and play:
In youth is pleasure, in youth is pleasure.
...
In a herber green asleep whereas I lay,
The birds sang sweet in the middle of the day;
I dreamed fast of mirth and play:
In youth is pleasure, in youth is pleasure.
...
Robert Wever was an English poet of the sixteenth century (floruit c. 1550) about whom little biographical information seems to have survived. An Enterlude called lusty Juventus, an interlude, attributed to him, was published in 1565. The poem In Youth is Pleasure (In a herber green asleep whereas I lay...), is a popular and remembered anthology piece, and has been several times set to music.)
In Youth Is Pleasure
IN a harbour grene aslepe whereas I lay,
The byrdes sang swete in the middes of the day,
I dreamed fast of mirth and play:
In youth is pleasure, in youth is pleasure.
Methought I walked still to and fro,
And from her company I could not go--
But when I waked it was not so:
In youth is pleasure, in youth is pleasure.
Therefore my hart is surely pyght
Of her alone to have a sight
Which is my joy and hartes delight:
In youth is pleasure, in youth is pleasure.