I Will Promise You a Fortnight

There's an emerald green garden,
In a castle by the Lee.
And my love lies there in silence
From a promise made by me.

We were promised to each other
To be wed this last July.
Now I find myself alone here,
And I miss her soft blue eyes.

I had one more trip downriver,
Though she asked me not to leave
I would not be gone a fortnight,
So I told her ere she grieved.

'Do you promise me a fortnight,'
She asked me through her fresh tears.
'If you take more than a fortnight,
It will be my end, I fear.'

'I will promise you a fortnight'
I did tell her in my arms.
I could stay away no longer,
From your beauty and your charms.

As I took the boat downriver,
She stood waving 'midst the reeds,
And I blew a kiss towards her
As we hastened on with speed.

But a storm blew hard against us,
And my business was delayed,
As we traveled homeward quickly,
For my love I was afraid.

I was one day o'er a fortnight
When I heard her father tell
How his daughter, in her sadness,
Threw herself into the well.

There's an emerald green garden,
In a castle by the Lee.
And my love lies there in silence
From a promise made by me.