- Duration: 5 minutes
- Soloist(s): Baritone
- Chorus: SATB
- Instrumentation: Piano OR Piano & Orchestra
- Published: Novello & Co
A captivating arrangement of the well-known folk song dealing with the ups and downs (mostly the downs) of love. ‘Waly’ is a dialect word for woe or grief. The baritone solo in this arrangement is supported by choir and piano.
The water is wide, I cannot get o’er,
And neither have I wings to fly,
Give me a boat that will carry two,
And both shall row, my love and I.
O, down in the meadow the other day,
A gathering flowers both fine and gay,
A gathering flowers both red and blue,
I little thought what love can do.
I leaned my back up against an oak,
Thinking that he were a trusty tree;
But first he bended and then he broke;
And so did my false love to me.
A ship there is and she sails the seas,
She’s loaded deep as deep can be,
But not as deep as the love I’m in:
I know not if I sink or swim.
O, love is handsome and love is fine,
And love’s a jewel while it is new,
But when it is old, it groweth cold,
And fades away like morning dew.
Words: Traditional Folksong