Poem by Anonymous

The Seven Vrgins

All under the leaves, the leaves of life,
	I met with the virgins seven,
And one of them was Mary mild,
	Our Lord’s mother from Heaven.

O what are you seeking, you seven fair maids,
	All under the leaves of life?
Come tell, come tell me what seek you
	All under the leaves of life.

We’re seeking for no leaves, Thomas.
	But for a friend of thine,
We’re seeking for sweet Jesus Christ, 
	To be our guide and thine.

Go you down, go you down to yonder town
	And sit in the gallery,
And there you’ll find sweet Jesus Christ,
	Nailed to a big yew tree.

So down they went to yonder town
	As fast as foot could fall,
And many a grievous and bitter tear
	From the virgins’ eyes did fall.

O peace, mother, O peace, mother,
	Your weeping doth me grieve.
O I must suffer this, He said,
	For Adam and for Eve.

O how can I my weeping leave
	Or my sorrows undergo?
Whilst I do see my own son die
	When sons I have no mo’?

Dear mother, dear mother, you must take John,
	All for to be your son,
And he will comfort you sometimes,
	Mother, as I have done.

O come, thou John Evangelist, 
	Thou’rt welcome unto me,
But more welcome my own dear Son,
  	That I nursed on my knee. 

Then He laid His head on His right shoulder,
  	Seeing death it struck Him nigh:
The Holy Ghost be with your soul,
  	I die, Mother dear, I die.

Oh the rose, the rose, the gentle rose,
  	And the fennel that grows so green,
God give us grace in every place
  	To pray for our king and queen.

Furthermore for our enemies all
  	Our prayers they should be strong.
Amen, Good Lord. Your charity
  	Is the ending of my song.

1. The Enchanted Island
2. Ettrick Banks
3. Lord Strafford’s Meditations in the Tower
4. The Banks o’ Glaizart
5. Barthram’s Dirge

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