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The Hern

by John Fleagle from the album World's Bliss: Medieval Songs of Love and Death

The hern flew east the hern flew west
   Lully-lullay, lully-lullay
She bore her o'er the fair forest
   The falcon hath born my mate away

She bore her o'er the meadows green
   Lully-lullay, lully-lullay
All to espy what might be seen
   The falcon hath born my mate away

Oh, then she saw an orchard fair
   Lully-lullay, lully-lullay
Where grow'th the apple and the pear
   The falcon hath born my mate away

And in that orchard stands a hall
   Lully-lullay, lully-lullay
With purple and gold it's clad o'er all
   The falcon hath born my mate away

And in that hall there stands a bower
   Lully-lullay, lully-lullay
Was covered o'er with periwink flower
   The falcon hath born my mate away

Beneath that bower there stands a bed
   Lully-lullay, lully-lullay
With silken sheets of gold so red
   The falcon hath born my mate away

And on that bed that lieth a knight
   Lully-lullay, lully-lullay
Whose wounds do bleed both day and night
   The falcon hath born my mate away

Under that bed there runs a flood
   Lully-lullay, lully-lullay
One half runs water, the other runs blood
   The falcon hath born my mate away

By the bed side there stands a stone
   Lully-lullay, lully-lullay
A leal maiden was sat thereon
   The falcon hath born my mate away

With silver needle and silken thread
   Lully-lullay, lully-lullay
She stems the wounds where they do bleed
   The falcon hath born my mate away


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