Dandy---o (1)/Picking lilies

PICKING LILIES.

DOwn in yon meadow fresh and gay,
Picking lilies the other day,
Picking lilies both red and blue,
I little thought what love could do.

Where love is planted there it grows,
It buds and blossoms like any rose,
It has such a sweet and a pleasant smell,
No flower on earth can it excel.

There are thousands, thousands in a room,
My love she carries the brightest bloom;
She surely is some chosen one,
I will have her or I will have none.

I saw a ship sailing on the sea,
As deeply loaden as she could be,
But not so deep as in love I am,
I care not whether I sink or swim.

Must I go bound, shall she go free?
Must I love one that loves not me!
Why should act such a childish part,
As to love one that would break my heart.

I put my hand into the bush
Thinking the sweetest role to find;
But I prick'd my finger to the bone,
And left the sweetest role behind.

If roses be such prickly flowers,
They must be gather’d when they are green,
For he that wooes an unkind lover,
I’m sure he striveth against the stream.

If my love were dead and gone to rest,
I would think on her that I love best,
I'll wrap her up in linen strong,
And think on her when she's dead and gone.