Come all ye fair and tender ladies Take warning how you court your men They're like a star on a cloudy morning First they'll appear and then they're gone They'll tell to you some loving story They'll swear to you their love is true Straight way they'll go and court another And that's the love that they had for you Oh don't you remember our days of courting You told me that you would love me the best You could make me believe by the fall of your eyes That the sun rose in the west If I had known before I courted That love was such a killing thing I'd lock my heart in a box of golden And fasten it with a silver pin I wish I was a little sparrow And I had wings and I could fly I'd fly right home to my false true lover And when he'd ask, I would deny But I am not some little sparrow I've no wings and I can't fly So I'll stay right here with my grief and sorrow And let my life pass me by Come all ye fair and tender ladies Take warning how you court your men They're like a star on a cloudy morning First they'll appear and then they're gone