A small article about Greensleeves Q1.Why does the song sound so grieved? Is it only because the man could not get the love from the woman? Firstly, I want to refer to a typical love poem in seventeenth century written by Andrew Marvell. TO HIS COY MISTRESS …… A hundred years should go to praise Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze; Two hundred years to adore each breast, But thirty thousand to the rest; An age at least to every part, And the last age should show your heart, For, lady, you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate …… With this poem and according to other reading experience, we can draw a conclusion that routinely love poems express the love by describing the incredible beauty and virtue of the loved ones. The same rule goes to love songs. But in the lyrics of Greensleeves, the singer seems to emphasis his own sacrifice on material possessions in an insincere way rather than his true love to the lady. Was he trying to move himself or the one he was wooing? As a deep-pocketed man, he tried to please a lady in the easiest way—to buy all the things he thought she needed without caring about the person. His extreme insistence might be considered abnormal in the lady’s eyes, which could also led to his failure in love. Q2.The hymn “What Child is This?”, depicting such holy biblical scenes, was later set to the tune of “Greensleeves”, which may be about a prostitute.What do you think about this? Firstly, we think the huge gap between times made the setting possible.The lyrics was written more than 300 years after the age of Greensleeves, the tune itself. On the one hand, with the changes of public concepts, people tended to be more open-minded on love stories. Love between men and women was no longer a taboo, but more beautiful. On the other hand, religious topics were not as solemn as before,which allowed further discussions about humanity and love. Secondly, we agreed that the atmosphere of the tune fitted well with the lyrics written by William Chatterton. According to our background knowledge, he was struck with a severe illness and went into a deep depression. His lyrics was not a typical Christmas carol, but more grieved. He described the death scene of Jesus,maybe because his own illness led him to think deeper into his religion and the meaning of god. The sad but not desperate tune perfectly suited his lyrics.