1

Awake, ye pretty maids, awake,
Refreshed from drowsy dream,
And haste to dairy house, and take
For us a dish of cream.

2

If not a dish of yellow cream,
Then give us kisses three;
The woodland bower is white with flower,
And green is every tree.

3

A branch of May we bear about
Before the door it stands;
There's not a sprout unbudded out,
The work of God's own hands.

4

Awake, awake ye pretty maids,
And take the May-bush in,
Or 'twill be gone ere tomorrow morn,
And you'll have none within.

5

Throughout the night, before the light,
There fell the dew or rain,
It twinkles bright on May bush white,
It sparkles on the plain.

6

The heavenly gates are open wide
To let escape the dew,
And heavenly grace falls on each place
It drops on us and you.

7

The life of man is but a span,
He blossoms as a flower,
He makes no stay, is here to-day,
And vanish'd in an hour.[12]

8

My song is done, I must be gone,
Nor make a longer stay.
God bless you all, both great and small,
And send you gladsome May.