Three roses she gave me, three kisses --
She spoke of love and eternal faithfulness,
Lilacs and narcissi bloomed,
Far off in the hay the crickets sang.

And before the roses lay wilted in the grass,
And before June had flown past in a rush,
Her parents and her female cousin
Had married her to a rich man.

And on the day after at my feet there lay
My home city in the evening glow,
I threw the roses as a last greeting
Down into the deep valley,

But the three kisses I passed on to others,
And became well known as a minstrel,
Who goes a-fiddling, now solemn, now merry,
From door to door, from country to country.