"Lay a garland" is a popular English poem from the play The Maid's Tragedy (Act II, Scene I) written in 1608-11.
The poem was famously set to music by Robert Lucas de Pearsall on 4 June 1840,[1] scored for SSAATTBB in Eb.
In 1854, Pearsall produced a contrafactum of Lay a Garland, to the Latin text Tu es Petrus, dedicating it to the first bishop of St Gallen, John Peter.
This is more often performed by choirs in a liturgical setting, as the original words for the music are more appropriate to a secular occasion.
However Pearsall's music is set to these adapted words changed from first to third person[1][2] Lay a garland on her hearse of dismal yew.