1.
Twentȳ* journe͞ys would I make,
And twentȳ ways would hie me
To make advenṯure for her sake
To set some matter by me,
But
Chorus:
Fain would I hāve a prettȳ thing
To give unto my Ladȳ;
I name no thing, nor I mean no thing,
But as prettȳ a thing as may be.
2.
Some do long for prettȳ knacks,
And some for strange devices;
God send me that my Ladȳ lacks;
I care not what the price is,
Thus
Chorus
3.
Some go here, and some go there,
Where gazes be not ge͞ason,
And I go gaping everȳwhere,
But still come out of season.
Yet
Chorus
4.
I walk the town, and tread the street
In everȳ corner seeking
The prettȳ thing I cannot meet
That’s for mȳ Ladȳ’s liking.
Chorus
5.
The mėrcers pull me going by;
The silk wives say ‘What lack ye?’
‘The thing you hāve not’, then say I,
‘Ye foolish fools, go pack ye.’
But
Chorus
6.
It is not all the silk in Cheap,
Nor all the golden treas̱ure,
Nor twentȳ bushels on a heap
Can do my Ladȳ pleas̱ure.
But
Chorus
7.
The gravers of the golden shows
With jewels do beset me;
The seamsters in the shops that sews,
They do nothing but let me.
But
Chorus
8.
But were it in the wit of man
By anȳ means to make it,
I could for mone͞y buy it than,
And say, ‘Fair Ladȳ, take it.’
Thus
Chorus
9.
O Ladȳ, what a luck is this
That my good willing misseth:
To find what prettȳ thing it is
That my good Ladȳ wisheth.
Thus fain would I have had this prettȳ thing
To give unto my Ladȳ;
I sa͞id no harm, nor I meant no harm,
But as prettȳ a thing as may be.
* For an explanation of the marks added to the letters, see Linguistic notes: English.