As I Roved out

As I roved out one bright May morning

To view the meadow and flowers gay

Whom should I see but my own true lover

As she sat under a willow tree

I took off my hat, and I did salute her

I did salute her most courageously

When she turned around, well, the tears fell from her

Saying, "False young man, you have deluded me"

"A diamond ring I own I gave you

A diamond ring to wear on your right hand

But the vows you made, well, you went and broke them

When you married the girl that had the land"

"If I married the girl that had the land, my love

It's this I rue until my dying day

When misfortune calls, well, no man can shun it

I was blindfolded, I'll ne'er deny it"

Now at night when I lie in my bed of slumber

It's thoughts of my true loved one in my mind

When I turn around, and I try to embrace her

Instead of gold, it's brass I find

And I wish the Queen would call back her army

From the West Indies, Americay, and Spain

So that every man to his wedded woman

And thoughts that you and I could meet again

As I roved out one bright May morning

To view the meadow and flowers gay

Whom should I see but my own true lover

As she sat under a willow tree