While the birds they were singing in the morning,
And the ivy and the myrtle were in bloom,
The sun on the hill-top was dawning,
It was then we laid her in the tomb.
Nora O'Neil, 4a3b4a3b, 5: Her lover's invitation to Nora to meet him "at the foot of the lane" when the nightingale sings in the dusk.
Sweet Birds, ii, 4a3b4a3b and 5aa, 6: A maiden's song of longing for her absent lover: she asks the birds to bear her message of devotion to him and to bring him back secure in his affection for her.
[Constant Johnny], 4aa, 14: A maiden sings her devotion to her absent sailor lover. He returns and they are married.
Lorla, 4aabb, 2: A lover's elegy over the grave of Lorla beneath the elm, as he recalls the golden willow under which they once sat on violet banks.
Lonesome Dove, 4a3b4c3b, 5: A constant husband sings his resolve to return like a lonesome dove to his wife and children in "Californy."
Lonesome Dove, 4aabb, 8: The singing of a dove bereft of its mate reminds a constant husband of his Mary, recently dead of consumption.
Pretty Saro, iii, 4aabb and 4aabb, 6ca: Her absent lover sings of his devotion, wishing he were a priest and knew how to write to her, or a dove to fly to her.
Come, All Ye Jolly Boatsman Boys, 7aabb, 5: A ribald song of a sailor to his amorata by night, and the birth of the child nine months later.
A Package of Old Letters, ii, 8aa, 11: A dying maiden bids her sister bring them from their rosewood casket to read them to her again, and asks that at her death they be buried with her.