Why do you order me, little lover-lad,
Why do you command me little dear,
That I sing a sweet song,
When I am far away in exile
In the middle of the sea ?
And why do you bid me to sing ?
More likely, sad little one,
Should I weep, little boy,
And lament rather than sing
A song such as you demand,
Dear love.
O why do you bid me to sing
By the Christian monk, Gottschalk, written when he was in exile on an island .
He is responding to a letter from a boy.