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.