Wheel of Fortune- (Lon) c.1840 R. Ford broadside, 10 stanzas
[This broadside called a "street ballad" was in possession of Richard Ford, a London bookseller, dated c. 1840. Here's a partial image below.
R. Matteson 2017]
"Wheel of Fortune"
1. When I was young I was much beloved
By all the young men in the country;
When I was blooming all in my blossom,
A false young lover deceived me.
2. He has tried his whole endeavor,
He has tried all his power and skill,
He has spoiled all my good behaviour,
He has broken my fortune against my will.
3. I did not think he was going to leave me,
Till the next morning when he came in;
Then he sat down and began a-talking,
Then all my sorrows did begin.
4. I left my father, I left my mother;
I left my sister and brothers too;
And all my friends and old acquaintance,
I left them all to go with you.
5. Its turn you round, you wheel of fortune,
Its turn you round and smile on me;
For young men's words they're quite uncertain,
For sad experience teaches me.
6. If I had known before I had courted,
That love had been so ill to win,
I wad locked my heart in a chest of gold,
And sealed it with a silver pin.
7. But fare ye well ye false hearted young man,
Its fare ye well, since we must part;
If you're the man that has broke my fortune,
You're not the man that shall break my heart.
8. For after evening there comes a morning,
And after morning a bonny day,
And after one lover there comes another,
And it's ill to hold them that must away.
9. Of all the flowers that grows in the garden,
Be sure and pull the rose and time[sic],
For all others are quite out of fashion,
A false young man he has stole my time.
10. But time will soon put an end to all things,
And love will soon put an end to me;
But sure there is a place of torment,
To punish my lover for slighting me.