From A Dictionary of the Isle of Wight Dialect by William Henry Long (London: Reeves & Turner, 1886), page 127:


THE BANKS OF THE SWEET PRIMROSES.

As I walked out one Midsummer morning
To view the fields and to take the air,
Down by the banks of the sweet primroses,
There I beheld a most lovely fair.

"Twas three long steps I took up to her,
Not knowing her as she passed me by;
I stepped up to her, thinking to view her,
She seemed to me like some virtuous bride.

Said I, "Fair maid, where are you going?
And what is the reason of all your grief?
I will make you as happy as any lady,
If you will let me give you relief."

"Stand off! Stand off! You are deceivers,
You are a false and deluding man;
'Twas you that caused my poor heart to wander,
And to give me comfort is all in vain.

"I will go down in some lonesome valley,
Where no man on earth shall there me find,
Where the pretty little small birds do hush their voices;
And drown my sighs in the blustering wind."