Let No Man Steal Your Thyme

Pentangle

Originale	La versione più lunga come interpretata da June Tabor nel suo...
LET NO MAN STEAL YOUR THYME Come all you fair and tender girls That flourish in your prime Beware, beware, if you're good and fair Let no man steal your thyme Let no man steal your thyme. For when your thyme it is past and gone He'll care no more for you And every place where your thyme was waste Shall spread all o'er with rue Shall spread all o'er with rue. For woman is a branchy tree And man a clinging vine (*) And from her branches carelessly He'll take what he can find He'll take what he can find He'll take what he can find.	LET NO MAN STEAL YOUR THYME Come all you fair and tender girls That flourish in your prime, prime, Beware, beware, keep your garden fair And let no man steal your thyme, thyme, Let no man steal your thyme. For when your thyme is past and gone He'll care no more for you, you. For every place that your thyme was waste Will all spread o'er with rue, rue, Will all spread o'er with rue. The gardener's son, he was standing by, Three flowers he gave to me, me. The pink, the blue and the violet too And the red, red rosy tree, tree, And the red, red rosy tree. But I forsook the red rose bush And gained the willow tree, tree, That all the world may plainly see How my love slighted me, me How my love slighted me. For woman is a lofty tree And man's a clinging vine, vine, And from her branches carelessly He'll take what he can find, find, He'll take what he can find. Come all you fair and tender girls That flourish in your prime, prime, Beware, beware, keep your garden fair And let no man steal your thyme, thyme, Let no man steal your thyme.
(*) Su Musica e Memoria il verso viene riportato nel modo seguente: “And a man a single wand, wand”, a significare che, a differenza della donna rigogliosa come un albero, l’uomo non è che un bastone, un pezzo di legno senza rami… Certo, ci sta eccome, ma ascoltando cantare Jacqui McShee mi pare proprio che lei pronunci “clinging vine”, cioè, il maschio è una pianta rampicante, infestante che mira a soffocare la donna-albero… Mi pare che le due lezioni siano entrambe valide ma quella accolta è senz’altro la più ricorrente e rigorosa.