Classic Poem

As I went out one May morning
To hear the birds so sweet,
I hid myself in a green shady dell
And watched two lovers meet.

You courted me, was what she said,
Till you got me to comply.
You courted me with a merry mood,
All night with you I lie.

And when your heart was mine, false love,
And your head lay on my breast,
You could make me believe by the fall of your arm
That the sun rose in the west.

I wish your breast was made of glass
That all in it might behold,
I'd write our secret in your breast
In letters made of gold.

There's many a girl can go about
And hear the birds so sweet,
While I, poor girl, must stay alone
And rock my cradle and weep.

There's many a star shall dwindle in the west,
There's many a leaf below,
There's many a curse shall light on a man
For treating a poor girl so.

Oh I can sing as lonely a song
As any little bird in a cage,
Who twelve long months astray have been gone,
And scarce fifteen of age.