I would that we were, my beloved, white birds on the foam of the sea far from the rose and the lily and the fret of the flames would we be for the flame of the blue star of twilight hung low on the rim of the sky has awaked in our hearts, my beloved, a sadness that may never die a sadness that may never die
A weariness comes from those dreamers, dew-dabbled, the lily and the rose Ah, dream of them not, my beloved, the flame of the meteor that glows or the flame of the blue star that lingers, hung low in the fall of the dew for I would we were changed, my beloved, to white birds on the foam, I and you to white birds on the foam, I and you
Bend low, that I may crown you, flower of the branch silver fish my hands have taken from the running stream, morning star, trembling in the heavens like a white fawn on the border of a wood Bend that I may crown you, that I may crown you
For the flame of the blue star of twilight hung low on the rim of the sky has awaked in our hearts, my beloved, a sadness that may never die and far from the rose and the lily and the fret of the flames would we be were we only white birds, my beloved, white birds on the foam of the sea white birds on the foam of the sea
Adapted from The Rose, 1893, except the bridge ("Bend low that I may crown you..."), adapted from the play The Shadowy Waters, 1901
Music composed by Freddie Stevenson and Mike Scott, musical arrangement by Mike Scott.