This edition was prepared by James Gibb — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Come ye heauie states of night
Staff Notation • Secular, Madrigals
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3 editions of this piece
Different typesettings and voicings of the same work. This page shows the main edition; the others are below.
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Come ye heauie states of night by John Dowland — Lyrics
Come ye heavy states of night,
Do my fathers spirit right,
Soundings baleful let me borrow,
Burthening my song with sorrow,
Come sorrow come her eyes that sings,
By thee are turnèd into springs.
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About Come ye heauie states of night
John Dowland was a leading English composer of the late Renaissance, renowned for his lute songs. This piece, Come ye heauie states of night, is a secular SATB madrigal setting English text. The lyrics express profound sorrow and a yearning for solace, drawing imagery from the night and its associated 'heavy states'. The composer crafts a rich, polyphonic texture to underscore the lamentations, with the voices weaving together to articulate the burden of grief. The text's central metaphor, that sorrow's tears can be turned into springs, offers a poignant, if melancholic, hope.
