Love's Impossibility- Mrs. R. F. Herrick (1800s) published 1906
[From: Two Traditional Songs by Mrs. R. F. Herrick; Eureka, California. The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 19, No. 73 (Apr. - Jun., 1906), pp. 130-132. This is the first of two songs probably dating back to circa 1820 (or the early 1800s) in California when her father was young.
R. Matteson 2011]
TWO TRADITIONAL SONGS [1]
THE following songs are traditional in the writer's family. They were learned by her from her father, who was born in 1807. The song "Love's Impossibility" [2] is a version of those given under the title of "The Elfin Knight " on page 212 of the Journal of American Folk-Lore for 1905.
I. LOVE'S IMPOSSIBILITY
As I was a-walking in yonder green field
(Savory, sage, rosemary, and thyme),
Remember me unto yonder young maid
And she shall be a true lover of mine.
Go tell her to make me a cambric shirt
(Savory, sage, rosemary, and thyme),
With neither seam nor needle work,
And then she shall be a true lover of mine.
Go tell her to wash it in yonder well
(Savory, sage, rosemary, and thyme),
Where water never ran nor rain never fell,
And then she shall be a true lover of mine.
Go tell her to hang it on yonder thorn bush
(Savory, sage, rosemary, and thyme),
Where leaf never grew since I was born,
And then she shall be a true lover of mine.
As I was walking in yonder green field
(Savory, sage, rosemary, and thyme),
Remember me to yonder young man,
And then he shall be a true lover of mine.
Go tell him to buy me an acre of land,
(Savory, sage, rosemary, and thyme),
Between the salt seas and in the sea sand,
And then he shall be a true lover of mine.
Go tell him to sow it in pepper and corn
(Savory, sage, rosemary, and thyme),
And to plow it all in with an old ram's horn,
And then he shall be a true lover of mine.
Go tell him to reap it with a sickle of leather
(Savory, sage, rosemary, and thyme),
And to sweep it all up with a peafowl's feather,
And then he shall be a true lover of mine.
Go tell him after he's done all his work
(Savory, sage, rosemary, and thyme),
To come unto me for his cambric shirt,
And then he shall be a true lover of mine.
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Footnotes:
1. This paper has been communicated as part of the Proceedings of the California Branch of the American Folk-Lore Society.
2 For a New England version of this ballad, somewhat less complete [see below], see vol. xii (T899), 245. For "The Elfin Knight," see also vol. xiii (1900), 120-122.
D. "Love's Impossibility.' From "Songs for the Million," printed in this country about 1844. Contributed by J. E. W., Boston, Mass.
1. Canst thou make me a cambric shirt,-
Savory, sage, rosemary, and thyme,
Without e'er a needle, or one stitch of work,
And I will be a true lovier of thine,
And I will be a true lovier of thine.
2. Canst thou wash it at yonder well,
Whose water ne'er sprung, nor rain ever fell?
3. Canst thou dry it at yonder thorn,
Where blossoms ne'er blew, since Adam was born?
4. Canst thou buy me an acre of land,
Betwixt the salt water and the sea sand?
5. Canst thou plough it with a cow's horn,
And sow it all over with one peppercorn?
6. Canst thou reap it with straps of leather,
And tie it all up in a peacock's feather?