Greensleeves is a musical composition with its roots in Tudor England, possessing elements of love and emotional declarations throughout. A perfect example of English folk music.
The original composition of Greensleeves was 18 verses long and also appeared in a Medieval book, A Handful of Pleasant Delights, in 1584 in the form of A New Courtly Sonnet of the Lady Green Sleeves.
Greensleeves has lasted for more than 400 years or more. One of the first known references to a Greensleeves ballad is dated back on September, 1580. One of the rumours about this old folk song is that it was written by English monarch Henry VIII after he was rejected by his eventual wife, Anne Boleyn, during the beginning of their courtship. The lyrics are wrought with a sense of romantic pathos and yearning for love.
The song in its lines refers to a Lady Greensleeves, and in the 16th-century era, the green color was interpreted to have a sexual connotation.
In “The Merry Wives of Windsor”, William Shakespeare mentions this folk song twice.