Sound Files:

tune (women)

low women

high men

low men

Lyrics

The water is wide I cannot get o’er,                 Unison

and neither have I wings to fly

Give me a boat that will carry two,

and both shall row my love and I

O down in the meadow the other day,                      Harmony from here

a-gathering flowers both fine and gay

A gathering flowers both red and blue,

I little thought what love can do

I put my hand into one soft bush,

thinking the sweetest flower to find

I pricked my finger right to the bone,

and left the sweetest flower alone

I leaned my back up against some oak,                    Women

thinking it was a trusty tree

But first it bended and then it broke,

and so did my false love to me

A ship there is and she sails the sea,                       Men

she’s loaded deep as deep can be

But not so deep as the love I’m in,

I know not if I sink or swim

O love is handsome and love is fine,                        All

and love’s a jewel when first it’s new

But when it’s old, it groweth cold,

and fades away like morning dew

The water is wide