“The Lover's Trial”
Description
A listener hears a man and woman talking about marriage. She rejects him because she loves another who is "far away on the foaming ocean." He leaves and the listener reveals himself as her long lost lover.
Supplemental text
Lover's Trial, The
Partial text(s)
*** A ***
From Kenneth Peacock, Songs of the Newfoundland Outports, Volume II,
pp. 553-554. Sung by Jim Rice, Cape Broyle, July 1952.
One evenin raging for recreation
To view the state of this countery
I beheld a fair maid in conversation
With a bold hero of no mean degree.
There is a flower that has more power
Than any other of those you speak,
And that's the laurel, that beauteous coral,
And shy should I my true love foresake?
(Stanzas 1, 6 of 12)
Notes
Peacock discusses the "fertility symbolism of the garden" and [observes] that "each flower of the garden has its own meaning." - BS
For a catalog of some of the sundry flower symbols, see the notes to "The Broken-Hearted Gardener." - RBW
References
- Peacock, pp. 553-554, "The Lover's Trial" (1 text, 1 tune)
- ST Pea553 (Partial)
- Roud #9794
- BI, Pea553