「歌曲」Banks of the Nile-Island Folk

The sun was setting in the west,
The birds were singing on the tree,
I spied my love, my own true love,
As she came riding up to me.
Her cheeks were red, her eyes were brown,
Her hair was like a golden veil,
And on her finger she did wear
A ring of shining silver pale.

“O why are you so sad, my love?
And why do you so sadly sigh?
And why do you so pale and wan,
And why do you so often cry?”
“I’m sad because I’m going away,
To fight upon the foreign shore,
And I must leave my own true love,
To see my native land no more.”

“O stay at home with me, my love,
And do not go across the sea,
For there are many pretty girls
That will be glad to go with thee.”
“But I must go, my dearest dear,
And I must cross the ocean wide,
For I have sworn a solemn oath
To fight for England’s cause and pride.”

“Then I will go along with you,
And be your true and faithful friend,
And I will share your dangers too,
And fight until the bitter end.”
“O no, my love, you must not come,
For war is cruel, hard, and cold,
And you are young and tender too,
And not yet seventeen years old.”

“I am not young, nor yet too weak,
I’ll prove my courage to the test;
I’ll bind my hair up in a knot,
And wear a soldier’s coat and vest.”
“Then if you’ll go along with me,
And be my comrade true and brave,
We’ll march away to the wars, my love,
And find a soldier’s lonely grave.”

They marched away to the wars, my love,
They marched away to the strife,
And on the banks of the river Nile
They laid down their sweet lives.
The sun went down, the birds sang low,
The river murmured by,
And on the banks of the river Nile
My true love’s grave does lie.