With hair like fire, in love’s desire, the Maiden, fair as a rose.
Her eyes all glassen, out plucked, a lyre, the Maiden, fair as a rose.
Her hands a wrought with the stiffness came,
I love her fast, with no fear or shame,
I found her here, my love so dear,
The Maiden, fair as a rose.

Came stumbled on, like a pebble shorn,
The Maiden, fair as a rose.
‘Neath grasses, feathered, her nightgown worn,
The Maiden, fair as a rose.

Her skin, still fresh, though who knows how long,
She lie, like this, half alive, half gone,
It seems too late, bear, a peasant’s fate,
The Maiden, fair as a rose.

Lai lai lai, lai lai, lai lai, lai lai,
Lai lai, lai lai, lai lai.
Lai lai lai, lai lai, lai lai lai, lai lai,
The Maiden, fair as a rose.

With feet like branches, her touch aloof,
The Maiden, fair as a rose.
The leaves and dirt frame her perfect youth,
The Maiden, fair as a rose.

The night wards off what the day once brought,
La da dee, la da dum, it’s a beggar’s lot,
Now her sweet perfume fills the night, she blooms,
The Maiden, fair as a rose.

Been sitting still, like a thrushen grebe,
With my Maiden, fair as a rose.
I’ll sit all night, les my birdy leave,
The Maiden, fair as a rose.

Though she might have once,
voice is mute, silence,
No flitter, no warble, or whistle hence,
And profess her love, never heard, never nought,
I can sit and rot like a fragrant sot,
As her face grows cold, and her body taut,
You get what you need and I got what I want,
The Maiden, fair as a rose.

Never warm, never loud, never fear, never proud…
The Maiden, fair as a rose.

Lai lai lai, lai lai, lai lai, lai lai,
Lai lai, lai lai, lai lai.
Lai lai lai, lai lai, lai lai lai, lai lai,
The Maiden, fair as a rose.