The Water Is Wide

The water is wide, I cannot cross over,

And neither have I wings to fly,

Give me a boat that can carry two,

And both shall row - my love and I.

A ship there was, and she sails the sea,

She's loaded deep as deep can be,

But not so deep as the love I'm in,

And I know not how, I sink or swim.

I leaned my back up against some young oak,

Thinking he was a trusty tree,

But first he bended and then he broke,

And thus did my false love to me.

Oh, love is handsome, love is fine,

Gay as a jewel, when first it is new,

But love grows old, and waxes cold,

And fades away, like summer dew.