Mollys Lily by Rose Polenzani Lyrics
Molly, you've got to
Put your saddle on tight
You've a red, red runner
For your final flight
You're my only sister
But a price is a price
And he's not going lower
Than my sister's life
Would that I may go with you
But a rule is a rule
And the red, red rascal
Is no sister's fool
In the Putnam meadow
Grows a poison lily
If I were a smart girl
I would take it with me
So she's taken her dress up
And she's tied back her hair
With a winsome ribbon
Such as never were
And she looked as brazen
As the scalded sea
When the sun rips its favors
Into morning's peace
She's an auburn woman
On mahogany mare
She was dressed full bloody
For the devil's despair
And it was no lily
For his cardamom lips
But for girl and filly
And for hooves and hips
All the plants in Putnam
Grow a venomous green
It was milk and money
Made the meadows mean
There she's taken her flower
And she's borne it away
Under nettled fingers
That she daren't display
From the Ipswich river
Riding easterly
To the black oak sapling
Where three fences meet
And she knows he's waiting
And she's down from her horse
And per their agreement
She is walking backwards
Cloven hoofprints pressing
In a ravenous reel
It's a phantom tarries
At her heart and her heel
And with each foot stepping
There's a petal has gone
From a noxious blooming
To a maidenly tongue
Did the devil take her?
Did the devil decide
On a red carnation
Or a red-blooded bride?
He's been up her ankle
And he's taken his treat
And he's eaten apples
Full of poison lily
Satan wears a flower
Like a dandy heathen
It's a fairer lily
Than the one that she gave him
He's a rowdy rascal
With a hearty complexionâ€"â€"
It's the very color
Of a lily stamen
Put your saddle on tight
You've a red, red runner
For your final flight
You're my only sister
But a price is a price
And he's not going lower
Than my sister's life
Would that I may go with you
But a rule is a rule
And the red, red rascal
Is no sister's fool
In the Putnam meadow
Grows a poison lily
If I were a smart girl
I would take it with me
So she's taken her dress up
And she's tied back her hair
With a winsome ribbon
Such as never were
And she looked as brazen
As the scalded sea
When the sun rips its favors
Into morning's peace
She's an auburn woman
On mahogany mare
She was dressed full bloody
For the devil's despair
And it was no lily
For his cardamom lips
But for girl and filly
And for hooves and hips
All the plants in Putnam
Grow a venomous green
It was milk and money
Made the meadows mean
There she's taken her flower
And she's borne it away
Under nettled fingers
That she daren't display
From the Ipswich river
Riding easterly
To the black oak sapling
Where three fences meet
And she knows he's waiting
And she's down from her horse
And per their agreement
She is walking backwards
Cloven hoofprints pressing
In a ravenous reel
It's a phantom tarries
At her heart and her heel
And with each foot stepping
There's a petal has gone
From a noxious blooming
To a maidenly tongue
Did the devil take her?
Did the devil decide
On a red carnation
Or a red-blooded bride?
He's been up her ankle
And he's taken his treat
And he's eaten apples
Full of poison lily
Satan wears a flower
Like a dandy heathen
It's a fairer lily
Than the one that she gave him
He's a rowdy rascal
With a hearty complexionâ€"â€"
It's the very color
Of a lily stamen