Fond Affection
(Anonymous text)

The world’s so wide I cannot cross it,
The sea’s so deep I cannot wade,
I’ll just go hire me a little boatman
To row me across the stormy tide.
I give you back your ring and letters,
And the picture I have loved so well
And henceforth we will meet as strangers,
But I can never say farewell.
There’s only three things that I could wish for,
That is, my coffin, shroud and grave,
And when I’m dead, oh please don’t weep o’er me
Or kiss the lips you once betrayed.