Can She Excuse My Wrongs

Edward Doughtie notes that the lyrics do not have a metric structure that combines well with music, and at times forces the singer into unusual word stresses.

[6] However, the attribution of "Can She Excuse" largely rests on the posthumous dedication of the galliard published in Dowland's 1604 collection Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares.

It has also been suggested that Dowland makes a veiled reference to the Earl in the third strain[2] by quoting the melody of the popular early 16th-century Tudor ballad, "Will Yow Walke the Woods soe Wylde".

[8] The song has been interpreted as recording the poet's feelings of exile and alienation, after being banished from court to the countryside, presumably having fallen from favour with Elizabeth I.

This was a popular theme in Tudor poetry and lyrical balladry, and often the poet would use the sense of political alienation to make acute, often satirical commentary on the world of the court, with all its intrigues and jostling for position.

[8] The lyrics present a stereotypical Petrarchan lover, and appear to form a personal plea to Elizabeth I. Essex is known to have addressed poems to the Queen.

[9] The song appeared before Essex's greatest failure, his period as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland which led to his ill-fated coup d'état, but he had previous fallings-out with her.

[12] Although Dowland worked for aristocratic patrons, the First Book was aimed at a wider market, and it is assumed that he did not compose "Can She Excuse My Wrongs" with highly trained singers in mind.

There are vintage recordings of the song by singers such as Alfred Deller (counter-tenor),[16] and Sir Peter Pears (tenor),[11] who worked with the lutenists Desmond Dupré and Julian Bream respectively.