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from Volkslieder (Folksongs)

Come all you fair and tender ladies
 (Sung text for setting by J. Edmunds)
 Matches base text
Language: English 
Come all you fair and tender ladies,
Be careful how you court young men;
They’re like a star of a summer’s morning,
They’ll first appear, and then they’re gone. 

They’ll tell to you some loving story,
They’ll declare to you their love is true;
Straight-way they’ll go and court some other,
And that’s the love they’ll have for you.

I wish I was some little sparrow,
That I had wings, could fly so high;
I’d fly away to my false true lover,
And when he’s talkin’, I’d be by.

But I am not some little sparrow,
And neither have I wings to fly;
I’ll set down here in grief and sorrow
To weep and pass my troubles by.

If I’d a-known before I courted,
I never would have courted none;
I’d a-lock’d my heart in a box of golden,
And pinn’d it up with a silver pin.

Composition:

    Set to music by John Edmunds (1913 - 1986), "Come all you fair and tender ladies", published 1953, copyright © 1953 [ voice and piano ]

Text Authorship:

  • from Volkslieder (Folksongs)

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Researcher for this page: Garrett Medlock [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2018-12-03
Line count: 20
Word count: 147

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