I worked on her father's farm
Long hours of labour in the hills
Sharp of mind and strong of arm
He blessed the day he found me
Saw me as another son
Raised me as his own until
His daughter's love I finally won
And he cursed the light around me
And he said dart, cruel river dart
Every year you claim a heart
You've taken hers
You've broken mine
You cruel, cold river
Arm in arm out on the ridge
We lay together in the sun
Beneath the tor and beyond the bridge
In her arms they caught me
One brother kept my love at bay
Two brothers held me hard and close
And he fell upon me in a rage
And such a bitter lesson he taught me
And he said dart, cruel river dart
Every year you claim a heart
You've taken hers
You've broken mine
You cruel, cold river
Then begging them to leave me be
She broke away and stood alone
Just where those rocks bent down the trees
Above the roaring waters
Swift and sharp a summer storm
Had raged this river into flood
And its there he reached to take her arm
And its there he lost his daughter
And he said dart, cruel river dart
Every year you claim a heart
You've taken hers
You've broken mine
You cruel, cold river
And he said dart, cruel river dart
Every year you claim a heart
You've taken hers
You've broken mine
You cruel, cold river
You cruel, cold river
You're a cruel, cold river