The Effects of Love- (Lon) broadside BL, c.1780
[From British Library 11621.k.4(158), broadside; 1 sheet; 1/80; London c.1780. This early "Died for Love" version presents four core stanzas.
R. Matteson 2017]
"The Effects of Love- A New Song," (broadside) London c. 1780:
O! Love is hot, and Love is cold,
And love is dearer than any gold;
And love is dearer than any thing,
Unto my grave it will me bring.
O when my apron it hung low,
He followed me thro’ frost and snow;
But now I am with-child by him,
He passes by and says nothing.
I wish that I had ne’er been born,
Since love has proved my downfall;
He takes a stranger on his knee,
And is this not a grief to me.
I wish that my dear babe was born,
And dandled on its daddy’s knee,
And I in the cold grave did lie,
And the green grass grew over me.
Ye Christmas winds when will ye blow;
And blow the green leaves off the tree,
O, gentle Death, when will you call,
For of my life I am quite weary.
Unloose those chains love, and set me free
And let me at liberty;
For was you hear (sic) instead of me,
I’d unloose you love, and set you free.