The poem
My flask of wine was ruby red And swift I ran my sweet to see; With eyes that snapped delight I said: "How mad with love a lad can be!" The moon was laughing overhead; I danced as nimbly as a flea.
Thought I: In two weeks time we'll wed; No more a lonesome widow she; For I have bought a double bed And I will father children three. So singing like a lark I sped To her who ne'er expected me.
And then I went with wary tread, Her sweet surprise to greet with glee; To where her lamplit lattice shed A rosy radiance on the lea: . . . And then my heart sank low like lead, Two shadows on the blind to see.
A man was sitting on the bed, And she was nudely on his knee. . . . I saw her face drain white with dread, I saw her lover madly flee. . . . Oh how her blood is ruby red, And I await the gallows tree