William Shakespeare
Orpheus
Orpheus with his lute made trees
And the mountain tops that freeze
Bow themselves when he did sing:
To his music plants and flowers
Ever sprung; as sun and showers
There had made a lasting spring.
Every thing that heard him play,
Even the billows of the sea,
Hung their heads and then lay by.
In sweet music is such art,
Killing care and grief of heart
Fall asleep, or hearing, die.
from Act III, scene 1 of Henry VIII(1623)
This song occurs in a scene commonly attributed to John Fletcher, and as it resembles his songs in style, it is frequently ascribed to him. Queen Katherine of Aragon, wife to Henry VIII, asks one of her women attendants to sing with her lute. At song's end, Cardinals Wolsey and Campeius enter to urge Katherine to reconsider the King's demand for an annulment.