There's tender green on the tree,
The birds are in finest feather,
And lovers in ecstacy
Go wandering forth together.
Sing heigh! sing ho! How the merry days go 
In the first of the summer weather.

The bird must capture his mate,
By sweet compulsion driven,
And Colin will steal from Kate
The kisses for which she's striven.
Sing heigh! sing ho! But the rogue must know,
How quickly he'll be forgiven.

Then seize the prime o' the time,
That your fruit be rich and mellow;
And warble your love in rhyme,
Ere the leaf be sere and yellow.
Sing heigh! sing ho! 'Tis a world of woe,
Till every one find his fellow.