Classic Poem

A squire, a squire, he lived in the woods,
He courted a lady gay;
A little while and he passed a joke
And a wager he did lay.

A wager, a wager, I'll lay to any man,
A thousand guineas to one
That a maid won't go to the merry green woods
And a maid return again.

Oh when she came to the merry green woods
She found her love asleep
With a knife in his hand and a sword by his side
And a greyhound at his feet.

Three times she walked all round his head,
Three times all round his feet,
Three times she kissed his red rosy cheeks
As he lay fast asleep.

And when she had done all that she could
She walked softly away,
She hid herself in the merry green woods
To hear what her love did say.

When he waked out from his dream,
He looked up in the skies,
He looked round and round and down on the ground
And he wept most bitterly.

Up he called his serving-man
Whom he loved so dear:
‘Why hasn't thou awakened me
When my true love was here?’

‘And with my voice I holloaed, Master,
And with my bells I rung:
Awake, awake and awake, master,
Your true love's been and gone.’

‘I wish I had my true love here
As free as I got my will
And every bird in the merry green wood
For they should have their fill.’

‘Sleep more in the night, Master,
And wake more in the day,
And then you will see when your true love comes
And when she goes away.’