I built my house beside the wood
So I could hear you singing
And it was sweet and it was good
And love was all beginning


Fare thee well my nightingale
'Twas long ago I found you
Now all your songs of beauty fail
The forest closes 'round you


'Tis now that you would call me
So rest in peace my nightingale
Beneath your branch of holly


Fare thee well my nightingale
I lived but to be near you
Though you are singing somewhere still
I can no longer hear you