Classic Poem

1.

" Get down, get down, loving Henry, " she said,
" And stay all night with me;
But there's another girl in the Urgent land,
That you love better than me. "

2.

" I could get down if I would get down,
And stay all night with you,
But there is a girl in the Urgent land
That I love better than you. "

3.

As he leaned over his saddle skirts,
To kiss her rosy cheeks,
All in her right hand she held a sharp knife,
And in him she plunged it deep.

4.

" I could have got down if I would got down,
And stayed all night with you,
For there is no other girl in this wide world
That I love better than you. "

5.

" Must I ride east? Must I ride west?
Or anywhere under the sun,
To get the doctor so kind and good,
To cure this wounded one? "

6.

" You needn't to ride east, nor you needn't to ride west,
Nor anywhere under the sun,
For there is no other but God alone
Can cure this wounded one. "

7.

She took him by his lily-white hand,
And led him across the yard;
She pitched him in that doomful well,
Where the water is cold and deep.

8.

" Lie there, lie there, loving Henry, " she said,
" Till the meat drops off your bone,
For there 's a little girl in the Urgent land
That will mourn for your return. "

9.

As she was on her way back home,
Little birdie was sitting on a limb;
" Go home, go home, you cruel little girl,
And there lament for him. "

10.

" Fly down, fly down, little birdie, " she called,
And sit on my right knee,
For the costly cords that's around my waist
Will be supplied to thee. "

11.

" I could fly down if I would fly down,
And sit on your right knee;
But the way you murdered your own true love,
Surely you would murder me. "

12.

" I wish I had my cedar bow,
My arrow and my string;
I would shoot a diamond through your heart,
And you'd no longer sing. "

13.

" Although you have no cedar bow,
No arrow nor no string,
So I'll fly to the tops of some tall tree
And there I'll sit and sing. "