THE WISE MEN WERE BUT SEVEN

The wise men were but seven, ne'er more shall be for me
The muses were but nine, the worthies three times three
And three merry boys, and three merry boys, and three merry boys are we!

(The midi below is for the first voice only -- each voice comes in at the start of a line, and each line is 7 measures long)

MIDI file: 7WISEM~1.MID

Timebase: 192

Name: The Wise Men Were But Seven
Text: By William Lawes
Copyright: mid-17th century
Tempo: 140 (428571 microsec/crotchet)
Key: G
TimeSig: 3/4 24 8
Start
0000 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 67 110 0336 0 67 000 0048 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 67 110 0336 0 67 000 0048 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 62 110 0528 0 62 000 0048 1 62 110 0336 0 62 000 0048 1 62 110 0160 0 62 000 0032 1 64 110 0336 0 64 000 0048 1 64 110 0160 0 64 000 0032 1 66 110 0336 0 66 000 0048 1 66 110 0160 0 66 000 0032 1 67 110 0736 0 67 000 0224 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 67 110 0336 0 67 000 0048 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 62 110 0336 0 62 000 0048 1 64 110 0160 0 64 000 0032 1 66 110 0912 0 66 000 0048 1 66 110 0160 0 66 000 0032 1 67 110 0336 0 67 000 0048 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 69 110 0336 0 69 000 0048 1 69 110 0160 0 69 000 0032 1 71 110 0736 0 71 000 0224 1 74 110 0160 0 74 000 0032 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 67 110 0336 0 67 000 0048 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 69 110 0160 0 69 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 69 110 0160 0 69 000 0032 1 62 110 0336 0 62 000 0048 1 74 110 0160 0 74 000 0032 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 69 110 0336 0 69 000 0048 1 69 110 0160 0 69 000 0032 1 67 110 0736 0 67 000
End

This program is worth the effort of learning it.

To download the latest version of MIDItext and get instructions on how to use it click here

ABC format:

X:1
T:The Wise Men Were But Seven
M:3/4
Q:1/4=140
K:G
G2G4|G2G4|G2D4|-D2D4|D2E4|E2F4|F2G4|-G6|G6|
-G2G4|G2D4|E2F4|-F6|F6|-F2G4|G2A4|A2B4|-B6|
d6|-d2B2G2|B2G4|B2A2G2|A2D4|d2B2G2|B2A4|A2G4|
-G15/4||

Okay, now for the discussion bit:

I know who the nine muses are (and when my memory is foggy, I know where to look them up). But who were the seven wisemen Lawes was referring to (at least as a culturally recognized grouping)? Any ideas?

And is this a 17th century version of "No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks!"?