[Verse 1]
I once loved a beautiful maiden
As fair as the blue skies above
And each night as we wondered together
The moon seemed to smile on our love
We vowed to be true to each other
And nothing could cause us to part
But we never once dreamed that the future
Held only a broken heart
Then there came the night when we parted
We quarrelled as all sweethearts do
And I learned what it was to be jealous
When she told me our love was untrue
She told me she had always been faithful
She swore that her love could not die
And then when I did not believe her
She kissed me and told me goodbye

[Chorus]
Oh-de-lay-ee-oh, de-lay-ee
Yo-de-lay-ee

[Verse 2]
I found I had falsely accused her
And went back to make her my bride
And there in the door stood her mother
She told me my sweetheart had died
I went in and knelt down beside her
And there in the hush of that room
I prayed that my maker would take me
And send my soul down to its doom
So now I have told you the reason
There's always a tear in my eye
For long weary years I've repented
But I'm longing to lay down and die
And I wonder if I'll be forgiven
When I face the master someday
And I wonder if I'll see my sweetheart
On that beautiful shore far away
[Chorus]