I Am Stretched on Your Grave

I am stretched on your grave

And I'll lie there forever

If your hands were in mine

I'd be sure we'd not sever

My apple tree, my brightness,

It's time we were together

For I smell of the Earth

And I'm worn by the weather.

When my family thinks

That I'm safely in my bed

From morn until night

I am stretched at your head

Calling out to the air

With tears both hot and wild

For the loss of a girl

I loved as a child.

Do you remember the night

The night when we were lost

In the shade of the blackthorn

And the chill of the frost?

Oh, and thanks be to Jesus

We did what was right

And your maidenhead still

Is your pillar of light.

I am stretched on your grave

And I'll lie there forever

If your hands were in mine

I'd be sure we'd not sever

Oh, the priests and the friars

They approach me in dread

For I love you still

My wife, and you're dead

I still will be your shelter

Through rain and through storm

And with you in your cold grave

I cannot sleep warm

So I am stretched on your grave

And I'll lie there forever

If your hands were in mine

I'd be sure we'd not sever

My apple tree, my brightness,

It's time we were together

For I smell of the Earth

And I'm worn by the weather.

So I am stretched on your grave

And I'll lie there forever

If your hands were in mine

I'd be sure we'd not sever

.