Dear love, regard my grief,
Do not my suit disdain;
O yield me some relief,
That am with sorrows slain.
Pity my grievous pain
Long suffered for thy sake,
Do not my suit disdain
No time I rest can take.
These seven long years and more
Still have I loved thee;
Do thou my joys restore
Fair lady, pity me.

Whilst that I live I love
So fancy urgeth me;
My mind cannot remove
Such is my constancy.
My mind is nobly bent
Tho' I'm of low degree;
Sweet lady, give consent
To love and pity me.
These seven long years and more
Still I have loved thee;
Do thou my joys restore
Fair lady, pity me.

abc | midi | pdf

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Source: Songs of the West by S. Baring-Gould.

Notes:
Abridged from notes by S. Baring-Gould.

Taken down from a labouring man at Exbourne. The melody is ancient and dates from the Tudor period. The words are a fragment from 'The Noble Lord's Cruelty,' 'Roxburgh Ballads,' ed. Ebsworth, vi. 681-3. It's date is before 1624.

Roud: 6912 (Search Roud index at VWML)
Laws:
Child: