| It is a commonplace that songs use a distinctive language, the selection and ordering of words being conditioned by the rhythmical demands of the line, the repetitive character of the verses, and the nature of the subject-matter - nostalgic, romantic, convivial, etc. The word willow, for example, is associated with sadness and unrequited love, as in the Wooer’s description of the Gaoler’s Daughter’s singing: ‘she sung / Nothing but “Willow, willow, willow”’ (TNK IV.i.82). |
The vocabulary of Shakespearian songs is notable in two respects, neither of which is easily treatable within an A--Z Glossary. First, we find the addition of a or another word as an extra syllable to satisfy the needs of the metre in a line. |
| Item |
Location |
Example |
| -a |
TNK III.v.61 |
The George Alaw came from the south, From the coast of Barbary-a; And there he met with brave gallants of war, By one, by two, by three-a. |
| and-a |
Oth II.iii.84 |
King Stephen was and-a worthy peer |
| a-down |
Ham IV.v.172 |
You must sing ‘A-down a-down, and you call him a-down-a.’ |
| down-a, down-a |
TNK IV.iii.12 |
[of a song] the burden on’t was ‘down-a, down-a’ |
Second, there is the use of nonsense words, such as heigh, derry, and nonny, to fill up a line or forming a line in a chorus. They are often repeated, as in the Gaoler’s Daughter’s ‘Hey, nonny, nonny, nonny’ (TNK III.iv.21) or the Pages’ ‘With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino’ (AYL V.iii.16).
| Item |
Location |
Example |
| derry ... down |
TNK III.v.138 |
Ladies, if we have been merry, And have pleased ye with a derry, And a derry, and a down, Say the schoolmaster’s no clown |
| heigh |
WT IV.iii.2 |
When daffodils begin to peer, With heigh, the doxy over the dale |
| hey ding a ding ding |
AYL V.iii.19 |
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding ding, Sweet lovers love the spring |
| hey-ho |
AYL II.vii.181 |
Then hey-ho, the holly, This life is most jolly |
| hey non nony |
Ham IV.v.167 |
They bore him barefaced on the bier, Hey non nony, nony, hey nony |