The Linnet (1819, Falkirk)/The Maid in Bedlam

For other versions of this work, see The Maid in Bedlam.

The Maid in Bedlam.

One morning very early;
one morning in the spring,
I heard a maid in Bedlam,
who mournfully did sing;
Her chains she rattled in her hands
while sweetly thus sung she,
I love my love, because I know
my love loves me.

Oh! cruel were his parents,
who sent my love to sea;
And cruel, cruel was the ship,
that bore my love from me:
Yet I love his parents since they're his,
altho' they've ruin'd me;
And I love my love, because I know
my love loves me.

should it please the pitying Powers,
to call me to the sky,
I'd claim a Guardian angel's charge,
around my love to fly.
To guard him from all dangers;
how happy should I be!
For I love my love, because I know
my love loves me.

I'll make a strawy garlard,
I'll make it wond'rous fine;
With roses lillies, daffies.
I'll mix the eglantine:
And I'll present it to my love.
when he returns from sea
For I love my love, because I know
my love loves me.

O! if I was a little bird
to build upon his breast;
Or if I was a nightingale,
to sing my love to rest;
To gaze upon his lovely eyes,
all my reward should be:
For I love my love, because I know
my love loves me.

O! if I were an eagle,
to soar into the sky:
I'd gaze around with piercing eyes,
Where I my love might spy:
But ah! unhappy maiden,
that love you ne'er shall see!
Ye I love my love because I know
my love loves me.

Divider from 'The Linnet', a chapbook printed in Falkirk in 1819