THE morn was bright, the steeds were light,       
  The wedding guests were gay:       
Young Ellen stood within the wood    
  And watched them pass away.        
She scarcely saw the gallant train:  
  The tear-drop dimmed her e'e:      
Unheard the maiden did complain      
  Beneath the Willow-Tree.           
        
"Oh, Robin, thou didst love me well, 
  Till, on a bitter day,
She came, the Lady Isabel,           
  And stole thy heart away.          
My tears are vain: I live again      
  In days that used to be,           
When I could meet thy welcome feet   
  Beneath the Willow-Tree.           
-          
"Oh, Willow gray, I may not stay     
  Till Spring renew thy leaf;        
But I will hide myself away,         
  And nurse a lonely grief.          
It shall not dim Life's joy for him: 
  My tears he shall not see:         
While he is by, I'll come not nigh   
  My weeping Willow-Tree.            

"But when I die, oh, let me lie      
  Beneath thy loving shade,          
That he may loiter careless by,      
  Where I am lowly laid.
And let the white white marble tell, 
  If he should stoop to see,         
'Here lies a maid that loved thee well,           
  Beneath the Willow-Tree.'"