Medieval Ballad

[Verse 1]
"Why," thou hast asked me, "should our hearts be bound?
What sweeter freedom could our love forsake?
The world is wide, and pleasures bloom around;
Why lose the spring for one uncertain stake?"
[Verse 2]
Come, dearest, walk with me through yonder wood,
Where winter keeps her silent, solemn reign;
The sun shines bright upon the leafless rood,
Yet scarce one beam can warm the frozen plain.
[Chorus]
The brighter shines the sun above the trees,
The deeper fall the shadows on the snow;
But happiness lives in the meadows,
Where love and gentle breezes blow.
[Verse 3]
The branches sigh beneath the wandering breeze,
And all things live, yet nothing seems to grow;
So fares the heart that loves, yet stands apart,
Where hope and fear contend for equal ground.
[Verse 4]
One doubts the promise whispered by the heart,
And hears a thousand sorrows in each sound;
But leave the wood, and cross the rising hill;
Behold the meadows, breathing in the sun!
[Chorus]
[Verse 5]
There every flower drinks gladly, soft and still,
And streams rejoice where shadows dare not run;
The selfsame sun that deepened winter’s gloom
Now gilds the grass and wakes the violet’s eye.
[Verse 6]
The selfsame earth that seemed a frozen tomb
Puts forth her green beneath the open sky;
Thus, dearest, love need not in freedom die,
Nor lose its wings because its home is shared.
[Chorus]
[Verse 7]
Two hearts may dwell beneath the selfsame sky,
And find more joy than either heart had dared;
For wedlock is no prison for the dove,
Nor iron chain to bind the spirit’s flight.
[Verse 8]
It is the sheltered garden of our love,
Where two may tend one flame against the night;
Then give thy hand, and let our vows be made;
Let autumn find us faithful, spring renew.
[Bridge]
And when the evening gathers in the glade,
I shall have lived my happiest years with you;
Yet if thou fearest what the years may bring,
Look once again upon the meadow fair.
[Verse 9]
The rose does not refuse the touch of spring
Because the winter waits somewhere out there;
Come, let us leave the darkling woods behind,
And seek the fields where living waters run.
[Outro]
For love grows brave when two are truly kind,
And life grows bright when shared beneath one sun.
[End]

10/10/2026

https://youtu.be/o6Ixm1uB5bI