Full Lyrics
Oh, vainly they prate who raise the chaunt
Of a life in a dirty town,
With redtiled roofs and a cobbled street,
And skies of a smoky brown.
But give to me the green grass sward,
And gallant squires to follow hard,
And a loud ‘tally ho’ for the cunning Reynard,
With the dew all fresh at dawning.
Oh, loudly they sing who drain red wine
From a glass or a silver cup;
Who pass the nights in unsating mirth,
And sleep when the sun is up.
But give to me a draught of mead
Drawn straight from cask, with foaming head,
In a good pewter pot as I saddle my steed,
With the dew all fresh at dawning.
Oh, deeply they sigh who spend their love
On a dame like a lily white,
With cheeks so pale and a slender waist,
In costliest satins dight.
But give to me a buxom mayde,
In russet kirtle plain array’d,
With an eye like a sloe and a cheek so redde,
In the dew all fresh at dawning.
