Awake, Awake Ye Drowsy Sleepers- Marvin Yale (NY) c1940 Cazden
[From: Folk Songs of the Catskills by Norman Cazden, Herbert Haufrecht and Norman Studer. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1982. My bio follows.
R. Matteson 2016]
Marvin Yale was a hermit, lumberman who died before 1948.
"Awake, Awake, ye Drowsy Sleepers" sung by Marvin Yale of Grahamsville, NY.
1. Awake, awake ye drowsy sleepers,
Awake and listen unto me."
“Who is at my bedroom window.
A-weeping there most bitterly?”
2. “ 'Tis I. 'tis I, your own true lover.
A-weeping there most bitterly.”
“Oh Willie dear, go court another,
And wait no longer here for me.”
3. “Oh, I can climb some tallest tree, love,
I can rob the richest rogue,
I can court some pretty fair damsel,
But not the one my heart loves best!
4. "Mary dear, go ask your father
If he might know we wed may be;
If he says no, pray come and tell me,
And I'll no longer trouble thee."
5. "Oh, I dares not go ask my father,
For he is at his couch of rest,
And by his side a silver dagger
To pierce the heart that I love best."
6. "Mary dear, go ask your mother
If she might know we wed may be;
If she says no, pray come and tell me,
And I'll no longer trouble thee."
7. "Oh, I dares not go ask my mother
For she is bound to set us free,
And by her side a sword and dagger
To pierce the heart that I love best."
8. Willie snatched the silver dagger,
He pierced it through his aching heart:
"Farewell, farewell, to father and mother,
Farewell, farewell, we're now at rest.
9. Mary snatched that blood-stained dagger,
She pierced it through her lily-white breast:
"Farewell, farewell to all true lovers,
Farewell, farewell, we're now at rest."