Chanson

A ring of gold and milk-white dove

    Are goodly gifts for thee,

And a hempen rope for your own love

    To hang upon a tree.

For you a House of Ivory

    (Roses are white in the rose-bower)!

A narrow bed for me to lie

    (White, O white, is the hemlock flower)!

Myrtle and jessamine for you

    (O the red rose is fair to see)!

For me the cypress and the rue

    (Fairest of all is rose-mary)!

For you three lovers of your hand

    (Green grass where a man lies dead)!

For me three paces on the sand

    (Plant lilies at my head)!