Classic Poem

1.

" Wake up, wake up, you drowsy sleeper,
Wake up, wake up, it's almost day;
How can you bear to sleep and slumber
When your own true love is going away? "

2.

" Who's this, who's this at my bedroom window,
Calling so earnestly for me? "
" Lie low, lie low, it's your own true lover;
Awake, arise, and pity me.

3.

" O love, go and ask your mother
If my bride you ever can be;
And if she says no, come back and tell me,
It's the very last time I'll trouble thee. "

4.

" I dare (not) go and ask my mother
If your bride I can ever be;
Go your way and court another, "
She whispered low in her true love's ear.

5.

" O love, go and ask your father,
If my bride you ever can be;
If he says no, come back and tell me,
It's the very last time I'll trouble thee. "

6.

" I dare (not) go and ask my father,
For he is on his bed of rest,
And in his arms he holds a weapon
To kill the one I love the best. "

7.

" O, Mary, Mary, loving Mary,
My heart is almost broke for you;
From North Carolina to Pennsylvania
I'll spend my hours and days with you.

8.

" I'll move my boat to some other river,
And by its waters I'll sit down;
I'll eat nothing but green willow,
I'll drink nothing but my tears. "

9.

" Come back, come back, you distracted lover,
Come back, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
And I'll forsake, I'll forsake father and mother,
Forsake them all and go with you. "