O Waly, Waly

Britten, Benjamin

The water is wide I cannot get o'er,

And neither have I wings to fly.

Give me a boat that will carry two,

And both shall row, my love and I.

O, down in the meadows the other day,

A-gathering flowers both fine and gay,

A-gathering flowers both red and blue,

I little thought what love can do.

I leaned my back up against some oak

Thinking that he was a trusty tree;

But first he bended, and then he broke;

And so did my false love to me.

A ship there is, and she sails the sea,

She's loaded deep as deep can be,

But not so deep as the love I'm in:

I know not if I sink or swim.

O! love is handsome and love is fine,

And love's a jewel while it is new;

But when it is old, it groweth cold,

And fades away like morning dew.