Oh, you're welcome home again
Said this young man to his love
I have waited for you many's the night and day
You are tired and you are pale
Said this young man to his dear
You shall never again go away

I must go away she said
When the little lark does sing
For here they will not let me stay
Oh, but if I had my wish
My dearest dear, she said
This night would be never never day

Oh, my pretty little lark
My handsome little lark
I pray you do not sing before the day
And your bed it shall be made
Of the very beads and gold
And your wings of a silver so grey

But, oh this little lark
This handsome little lark
He sang a full hour too soon
And my true love she said
It is time for me to part
It is now the going down of the moon

And where is your bed
My dearest love, he said
And where are your white hall and sheets
And where are the waiting maids
My dearest dear, he said
Who wait upon you while you are asleep

The clay it is my bed
My true love she said
And the shroud it is my white hall and sheet
And the worm and the creeping things
They are my waiting maids
To wait upon me while I am asleep

Oh when you have gone away
Said the young to his love,
I'll recall the banks where you and I did walk
But the rose the fairest flower
That ever blossomed there he said
It has died away and withered on the stock

My little love he said
My handsome little love
When will you ever leave the clay?
When the fish grow wings and fly
And the seven seas run dry
And the rocks melt in the heat of the day.