In defence of my comment - "Let the words be what they are" -I am sorry I was so off hand. However, my meaning was that the song is still worthy of singing, even if you don't know that much about the origins.
I personnally believe the song is about love and faithfulness; it is very very sad, but in an odd way, still a celebration.
It must be said that most versions of the song collected in the more recent past (ie.. last 100 years) in both the UK and USA are nearly all devoid of the Fallow doe/love/selflessness aspects, and are more about the gory details eg. pecking out the eyes, etc..
I like the softer aspects.
Tim R.