Classic Poem

All in the merry month of May,
When the green buds they were swelling,
Young William Green on his death-bed lay,
For the love of Barbry Ellen.

He sent his servant to the town,
To the place where she was dwelling,
Saying, my master bids you come,
If your name is Barbry Ellen.

Then slowly, slwoly she got up,
And slowly came she nigh him,
And when she pulled the curtains back,
Young man, I think you're dying.

O yes, I'm sick, I'm very very sick,
And I never will be any better,
Until I have the love of one,
The love of Barbry Ellen.

O don't you remember in yonder town,
In the place where you were dwelling,
You drank the health of the ladies all around,
But you slighted Barbry Ellen.

O yes, I remember in yonder town,
In the place where I was dwelling,
I drank the health of the ladies all around,
But my love was to Barbry Ellen.

He turned his pale face to he wall,
And death was in him dwelling.
Adieu, adieu, my kind friends all,
Be kind to Barbry Ellen.

As she was going through the field,
She heard the death bells knelling,
And every stroke they seemed to say,
Hard-hearted Barbry Ellen.

She looked east, she looked west,
And saw the pale corpse coming.
Go bring him here and lay him down,
And let me look upon him.

The more she looked, the more she grieved,
Until she burst out crying.
Go take him away, go take him away,
For I am now a-dying.

O Mother, O Mother, come make my bed,
Come make it soft and narrow;
Sweet William died for me today,
I'll die for him tomorrow.

O Father, O Father, come dig my grave,
O dig it deep and narrow;
Sweet William died for love of me,
And I will die for sorrow.

They buried her in the old churchyard,
And William's grave was nigh her,
And out of his grave there grew a red rose,
And out of hers a briar.

They grew and grew to the old church tower,
And they could not grow any higher,
They grew and grew till they tied love knots,
And the rose wrapped round the briar.