As I walked out on a midsummer's morning
To view the field and to take the air
Down by the banks of the sweet prim-a-roses
'Twas there I beheld a most lovely fair

I said, "Fair maid, and why do you wander?
And what's the occasion of all your grief?
I'll make you as happy as any lady
If you will grant me one small relief."

"Stand off, stand off, for you are deceitful
You are the false deceiving young man, 'tis plain
'Tis you that has caused my poor heart to wander
And to give me comfort lies all in vain."

"Oh, I'll go down to some lonesome valley
Where no man on earth there shall me find
Where the pretty little small birds do change their voices
And every moment blows blusterous wind."

So come all young men with a mind for courting
Won't you pay attention to what I say?
For there's many a dark and a cloudy morning
Turns out to be a bright sunshiny day