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

[Verse 2]
Michael he ranted, Michael he raved
And beat at the four winds with his fists-o
He laughed and he cried, he shouted and he swore
But his mad mind had trapped him in a curse-o
"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
Your sorcerer's words are to taunt me"

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