Works of King Henry VIII

Bernardino Licinio. Allegory of Love. c1520.


"If Love Now Reigned as it Hath Been"
by King Henry VIII

[BM Add. Ms. 31922, ff 48v-49] If love now reynyd as it hath bene And war rewardit as it hath sene,1 Nobyll men then wold suer enserch2 All ways wherby thay myght it rech; Butt envy3 reynyth with such dysdayne, And causith lovers outwardly to refrayne, Which puttes them to more and more Inwardly most grevous and sore: The faut4 in whom I cannot sett; But let them tell which love doth gett. To lovers I put now suer this cace — Which of ther lovers doth get them grace? And unto them which doth it know Better than do I, I thynk it so.5

1. sene: 'since', i.e. in the old days (?)
2. enserch: search out
3. envy: malice
4. faut: fault
5. I thynk it so: i.e. I am conscious of speaking to experts

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Stevens, John. Music and Poetry in the Earl Tudor Court.
London: Methuen and Co. Ltd, 1961. 403.

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	Sheet Music for "If love now reigned" (Original Manuscript, c.1518)
	Sheet Music for "If love now reigned" (Modern)

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Audio Excerpt from Complete Music of Henry VIII by Sirinu

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