Come all ye fair and tender ladies
Be careful how you court your men
They're like the stars on a summer morning
They'll first appear and then they're gone

How I remember our days of courtin'
I met my love in the fading light
But now she flies to meet another
The day is lonely as the night

If I had known before I courted
That true love was so hard to win
I'd have locked my heart in a box of golden
And never opened it again

I'll find a place come tomorrow
I'll climb some mountain way up high
There I'll sit down to weep in sorrow
And try to mend my troubled mind

Come all ye fair and tender ladies
Be careful how you court your men
They're like the stars on a summer morning
They'll first appear and then they're gone