As I Roved Out
Divers / Loreena McKennitt Lyrics

Who are you, my pretty fair maid,
The singer asks the young lady her identity

Who are you, me honey?
The singer asks the young lady her identity again

She answered me quite modestly, I am me mother's darling
The young lady responds politely by saying she is her mother's beloved

And will you come to me mother's house,
The artist asks the young lady if she is willing to come to his mother's house

When the moon is shining clearly?
The artist specifies the time for the lady to visit his mother's house

I'll open the door and I'll let you in
The singer promises to welcome the lady into his mother's house

And divil 'o one will hear us
The singer assures the lady that no one will overhear their conversation

So I went to her house in the middle of the night
The artist visits the young lady at her own house at night

She opened the door and she let me in and divil the one did hear us
The young lady welcomes the artist into her house silently as promised

She took me horse by the bridle and the bit
The young lady tends to the artist's horse

And led him to the stable
The young lady leads the singer's horse to the stable

"There's plenty of oats for a soldier's horse,
The young lady tells the artist's horse that there is enough food for him

To eat it if he's able"
The young lady invites the horse to eat the oats provided

Then she took me by the lily-white hand
The young lady takes the singer by the hand

Led me to the table
The young lady leads the singer to the table

"There's plenty of wine for a soldier boy,
The young lady tells the artist that there is enough wine for him

To drink if he is able"
The young lady invites the artist to drink wine

Then I got up and I made the bed
The singer gets up to make the bed

I made it nice and aisy
The singer makes the bed comfortable

The I got up and I laid her down
The artist invites the young lady to the bed

Saying "Lassie, are you able? "
The artist asks the young lady if she is ready for intimacy

And there we lay till the break of day
The artist and the young lady spend the night together until morning

Then I arose and put on me clothes
The singer gets dressed in the morning

Saying "Lassie, I must leave you"
The artist tells the young lady that he must leave

And when will you return again
The young lady asks the singer when he will come back

When will we get married?
The young lady asks the singer about their future plans

When broken shells make Christmas bells
The singer replies with a vague answer that when impossible things happen, they will get married

We might then get married
The artist suggests that they will get married when the impossible things happen