Lyrics from Emma

Note: the lyrics differ somewhat from what was sung in the film as there seem to be many variations on these old Irish songs.

[Back]


My lady

Did you not hear My Lady
Go down the garden singing
Blackbird and thrush were silent
To hear the alleys ringing...

Oh saw you not My Lady
Out in the garden there
Shaming the rose and lily
For she is twice as fair.

Though I am nothing to her
Though she must rarely look at me
And though I could never woo her
I love her till I die.

Surely you heard My Lady
Go down the garden singing
Silencing all the songbirds
And setting the alleys ringing...

But surely you see My Lady
Out in the garden there
Rivaling the glittering sunshine
With a glory of golden hair.

Back to top

Virgins Are Like The Fair Flower

Virgins are like the fair Flower in its Lustre,
Which in the Garden enamels the Ground.

Near it the Bees in Play flutter and cluster,
And gaudy Butterflies frolick around.

But, when once pluck'd, 'tis no longer alluring,
To Covent-Garden 'tis sent, (as yet sweet).

There fades, and shrinks, and grows past all enduring,
Rots, stinks, and dies, and is trod under feet.

Virgins are like the fair Flower in its Lustre,
Which in the Garden enamels the Ground.

Back to top