The Apron Of Flowers
I loved a young man, I loved him well;
I loved him better than tongue can tell.
I loved him better than he loved me,
For he did not care for my company.
There is an ale house in this town
Where he goes in, and there sits down;
And he takes a strange girl on his knee
And tells her what he once told me
But there’s a flower grows in this place
And some does call it, the heart’s ease;
And if I could but this flower I’ll find
I would ease my heart and my troubled mind.
Unto the green meadows there I’ll go
And every flower I will pull,
Until I have my apron full.
The paradox of this song is that it is a tale of loss and sadness set to a very light hearted melody. It was written by the Ulster poet, Samuel Ferguson, in 1856.
