The young man sat above the town, in the glow of the setting sun
With his head held cradled in his hands, his back against the stone
Saying, "Why have I so little time in this wretched place to stand
When I can't take the girl I love back home to the Borderland?" (oh)
"For I watched her dance upon the hill and I live but for her song
And she never dreamed I waited here so silent and so long;
But her golden hair to strike mе dumb and her brown eyes strikе me blind
And thought I'll ne'er see her again is torturing my mind." (oh)
The maid walked down the hill nearby, toward home at the end of day
And she caught the sound of the young man's words, as she stopped upon her way;
And no voice had she ever heard so sweet as the voice of the stranger lad
And she stood there- as if turned to stone- and listened from the shadows
And the young man's words reached out to her, where she stood upon the Lee
And they built her ships upon the clouds and castles on the sea;
And as he spoke, her eyes did flash and burn- as with a flame-
And the maid stepped out around the stone, as if he called her name. (oh)
"Pray, lament, no more," she said, her voice like a gentle sea
"For I have heard your every word and I know they're meant for me;
And if you speak in truth, my lad, and you love me as you say
There can be no reason we must part, not even for a day." (oh)
The young man startled, at her words, and he stood up straight and tall
Said, "I never meant for you to hear me speak this way, at all
For you can never have me, love, it's useless to deceive
For I must return to the Borderland. Oh, I am bound to leave you."
"I care not where you're bound, my lad, I care not where you're from;
For the one thing that I'm certain t'is, this maiden's heart, you won
So take me with you where you must, I freely go your way
And I will lie here in your arms to greet the light of day." (oh)
Tenderly, he laid her down and, next to her, did lie
The wind that whispered through the trees was sweet as a lullaby;
And, bending down, he folded her into his soft embrace
And with a touch he sent her fast asleep with a smile upon her face. (oh)
"Sleep content, my love," he said, "I cannot cause you pain
For the dawn will find me far away and I won't be back again
And though I'd take you if I could, I am not what I seem
So forget we ever tarried here and wake as from a dream." (oh)
For I am not of your world, my love, I come from another time;
And I crossed here from the Borderland, between your world and mine
It was there that I first heard your voice and I longed for your face, to see
And I gathered all the powers I had and stepped out on your Lee." (oh)
"For you know I watched you, quietly, as you danced upon the hill
And though I dared not call to you, I loved you stronger still;
But no longer do I have the power, no longer can I stay
And I'll be pulled back into my time by the dawning of the day." (oh)
"But I will be your pillow where e'er your head will lie
And I'll be the star you can only catch in the corner of your eye
And I'll be the sound of laughter in the 'First Love' flower of dawn
And I'll be the brush to touch your cheek and wake you in the morning."
Saying this, he bended low and he kissed her once, 'goodbye'
And as the dawn broke on the hill, he vanished like a sigh
And the maid she opened her eyes and smiled off through the trees
For she could almost hear his voice upon the breeze. (oh)
"Oh, I know you hear me, love," she spoke, as she lay on her grassy bed
"For I felt your touch, and I felt your kiss, and I heard the words you said;
But the next time that our worlds combine cannot be very far
And I'll be waiting, then, to take your hand and dance among the stars." (oh)
