I heard ‘mid oak trees olden
Blackbirds unbeholden
Rain, in gushes golden,
Rapture from above.
I saw them spread their wooing,
Flying and pursuing,
Fluttering, billing, cooing,
Through the rustling grove.
And then my song I started,
How we two were parted,
We so constant hearted
To our early love.

But as I made my murmur,
Thoughts of thee, my charmer,
Made my faith grow firmer,
Till I thus could sing;
“These giddy blackbirds pairing,
April’s balmy air in,
Meet again uncaring,
With return of spring;
When we at last, delighted,
Prove the love we’ve plighted,
Until death united
By the marriage ring.”