The Flower Seller

1. As I went to market, so early one morn,

I passed the corn merchants, all laden with corn

And the shepherds with many a fine flock of sheep

And the sellers of ribbons and trinkets so cheap

I strayed not to the alehouse to drink all the day

Or to idly puff on a fine pipe of clay

But I watched a fine craftsman who fashioned a chair

And I bought a red rose from a maid young and fair

Chorus: She had violets and lavender, all for to buy

“Only twopence a bundle”, she often would cry

And her blooms were the finest that you’d ever seen

In their colours of purple and yellow and green

In their purple and yellow and green

2. I flattered and charmed, and I flirted a while

And she, for her part, drew me on with a smile

So I asked if, that evening, we might take a walk,

In the woods in the moonlight to further our talk

And the maid, grinning slyly, replied with delight

She’d be glad to walk out with me later that night

And to show my respect for that maid young and fair

I entwined the red rose in her silken blonde hair.

3. So, under the moonlight we dallied and danced,

Among oak, beech and willow, we cavorted and pranced

And we quietly watched a fox, out on the prowl

And we heard the soft hoot of a hunting night-owl

At length, in a clearing, we lay. down to rest

And with whispered affections, we kissed and caressed

And we lay a long time close together at ease

As the creatures of night scuttled under the trees

5. It was late in the autumn, and many years on

I returned to the market to find that girl gone

At the spot I remembered the ghost of her face

There a seller of clothes-pegs was stood in her place

So I strayed to the alehouse to drink all the day

And I idly puffed on a fine pipe of clay

Then I walked in a wood that was naked and stark

And I sat in a clearing until it grew dark