"Rose, Rose, Rose Red,
Will I ever see thee wed?"
I will marry at my will, sire,
At my will.

Ding dong, ding dong,
Wedding bells on an April morn',
Carve thy name on a moss covered stone
On a moss covered stone.

Peace, peace, peace, peace,
Wars will come and wars will go,
I will wait for you 'til the end,
Peace, peace, peace.

Mother, Father, dig my grave,
Dig it with a golden spade,
Bring some friends and a turtle dove
To show that I died for love.,
To show that I died for love...

I learned the song as a story about a girl who, despite the traditions of her time, decides to marry the man of her choosing, knowing that it is best to marry for love, (the first stanza sort of acting like a conversation she has with her father or someone wondering why she is not married yet. She finally finds love, and marries, but shortly after her husband must leave for war, and they promise to wait for each other until he comes home.

The last stanza can go two ways: The first is that it is sung by the man who went off to war but ends up dying, having gone off to war in order to protect his love. The other way is that the girl finds out that her husband died in the war, and she herself dies of heartbreak/kills herself, and they are buried together.

Of course this is just one interpretation of the song, and only a few of the many verses that have been added over the years.