[Verse 1]
Within the fire and out upon the sea
Crazy man Michael was walking
He met with a raven with eyes black as coal
And shortly they were talking
"Your future, your future I will tell to you
Your future you often have asked me
Your true love will die by your own right hand
And crazy man Michael will cursed be"

[Verse 2]
Oh, Michael he ranted and Michael he raved
And he beat at the four winds with his fists-o
Well, he laughed and he cried, he shouted and he swore
For his mad mind entrapped him with a fist-hold
"You speak with an evil, you speak with a hate
You speak for the devil that haunts me
For is she not the fairest in all the broad land?
Your sorcerer's words are to taunt me"

[Verse 3]
Well, he took out his dagger of fine and broad steel
And he struck down the raven through the heart-o
Well, the bird fluttered long and the sky it did spin
And this cold earth did wonder 'round startled
"Oh, where is the raven that I struck down dead
That here did lie on the ground-o?
I see my true love with a wound so red
Where her lover's heart it did pound-o
[Verse 4]
Crazy man Michael he wanders I'm told
And talks through the night and the day-o
But his eyes they are sane and his speech is plain
But he longs to be far away-o
Michael he whistles the simplest of tunes
As he asks of the wild wolves their pardon
For his true love is flown into every flower grown
And he must be keeper of the garden