Lay White Lilies- Harrytheheat (UK) 2011 posted
[From online post here- URL: URL: http://able2know.org/topic/52-2, stanzas arranged in quartrain form.
R. Matteson 2017]
LAY WHITE LILIES AT MY FEET (traditional) --posted by Harrytheheat on Sun 18 Dec, 2011.
An old man staggered home one night
And found his house without a light
And as he went upstairs to bed,
A sudden thought came to his head.
He went into his daughter’s room
And found her hanging from a beam,
He took a knife and cut her down
And on her breast these words he found.
“Dear Dad, I cannot bear the shame
To have a child without a name,
So dig my grave and dig it deep
And lay white lilies at my feet.
“And on my breast a turtle dove
To show them that I died of love,
And all you ladies bear in mind,
A sailor’s love is hard to find."