A goodwife weeded her garden roots The lark sings sweet in the morning-o Humming a tune to the sound of hooves The dove speaks soft at night The hoofbeats ceased at the garden wall The lark sings sweet in the morning-o She smiled and stood at the rich knight's call The dove speaks soft at night When last they'd met, they'd both been young The lark sings sweet in the morning-o With a secret love that had gone unsung The dove speaks soft at night... The dove speaks soft at night He'd taken her favour ten years before And he'd sworn he'd treasure no other He'd carried it with him through the war And now he'd returned to his lover-o He'd finally returned to his lover But here she was, another man's wife With children and prosperous steading He'd guarded that torn veil with his life While she had been forgetting-o While she had been forgetting Her eyes grew hard, though her smile remained The lark sings sweet in the morning-o She told him she would not be blamed The dove speaks soft at night Ten years ago, he'd left her alone So she'd given up tears and regretting She'd thought in the foolish flush of youth She'd stitched that veil for her wedding-o She'd stitched that veil for her wedding But he'd left without binding his future to hers No request, nor an oath, nor a ring-o And she'd seen, while she'd thought him the boy of her dreams, He was foremost a squire to his king-o His heart belonged to his king The troubadours say that the girl should wait But she'd no trouble then in deciding "I want a good man with a loving heart now Not a duke after ten years of crying-o Not you after ten years of crying." The bridle chimed as he turned his back As the lark sings sweet in the morning-o With the veil in the mud of the farmhouse track As the dove speaks soft at night A goodwife hums in her garden rows The lark sings sweet in the morning-o With a silk tied high to scare the crows The dove speaks soft at night... As the dove speaks soft at night Oh, the lark sings sweet in the morning-o, And the dove speaks soft at night The dove speaks soft at night