Spinning song
M. Lang
How many lilies be ablow?
Count them and see --
Seven by the wall, and seven by the door;
'Tis time he came to me.
Oh, love's bitter!
Was ever a whiter web than this
That I spin to-day?
A wedding gown or a winding sheet,
Love, which shall it be?
Oh, love's bitter!
The old dames stand in the street,
'Neath the willow trees;
And they mark how white my lilies blow,
And they hear my bees.
Oh, love's bitter!
And one dame says, "Five lads of mine
Be in the sea;"
Another says, "That lad of mine,
He came not back to me."
Oh, love's bitter!
The willow trees grow down to the wharves,
Green as of old;
(Green as the day he went from me;)
The sea is of gold.
Oh, love's bitter!
Two ships I see: one in the west --
Love, is it thine?
One in the east, in a windy mist --
Oh, love, which is thine?
Oh, love's bitter!
Then speak the dames: "Her ship went down
That night at sea."
My seven white lilies -- do ye hear?
For this they speak of me!
Oh, love's bitter.