The
Latin phrase "Semper Dolens, Semper Dowland" was the motto of
Elizabethan era
Lutenist John Dowland. The phrase is cited by historians of music as the reason why
John Dowland's last name should be pronounced to
rhyme with "No-land" and not "Now-land." If it were pronounced to rhyme with "Now-land," it would not fit the
rhyme scheme.
The phrase translates to mean "Always mourning, always Dowland." This is very appropriate as John Dowland was famous for being in a constant state of melancholy. This melancholic nature is very easy to hear in his music, particularly the Melancholy Galliard and the galliard If My Complaints.