'Twas on one April morning, just as the sun was rising,
'Twas on one April morning, I heard the small birds sing.
They were singing Lovely Nancy,
For love it is a fancy—
And sweet were the notes that I heard the small birds sing.
Young men are false and are full of all deceiving;
Young men are false, and they seldom do prove true.
For they're roving and they're ranging
And their minds are always changing
And they're thinking for to find out some other girl that's new.
O if I had but my own heart in keeping,
O if I had but my own heart back again:
Close in my bosom
I would lock it up forever
And it should wander never so far from me again.
So why would you spend all your long time in courting?
Why would you spend all your long time in vain?
For I don't intend to marry,
I would rather longer tarry.
O young man, don't you spend all your single life in vain.
'Twas on one April morning, just as the sun was rising,
'Twas on one April morning, I heard the small birds sing.
They were singing Lovely Nancy,
For love it is a fancy—
And sweet were the notes that I heard the small birds sing.