Within the fire and out upon the seaCrazy Man Michael was walkingHe met with a raven with eyes black as coalsAnd shortly they were a-talkingYour future, your future I would tell to youYour future you often have asked meYour true love will die by your own right handAnd crazy man Michael will cursèd be

Michael he ranted and Michael he ravedAnd beat up the four winds with his fists-oHe laughed and he cried, he shouted and he sworeFor his mad mind had trapped him with a kiss-oYou speak with an evil, you speak with a hateYou speak for the devil that haunts meFor is she not the fairest in all the broad landYour sorcerer's words are to taunt me

He took out his dagger of fire and of steelAnd struck down the raven through the heart-oThe bird fluttered long and the sky it did spinAnd the cold earth did wonder and startleO where is the raven that I struck down deadAnd here did lie on the ground-oI see that my true love with a wound so redWhere her lover's heart it did pound-o

Crazy Man Michael he wanders and callsAnd talks to the night and the day-oBut his eyes they are sane and his speech it is plainAnd he longs to be far away-oMichael he whistles the simplest of tunesAnd asks the wild wolves their pardonFor his true love is flown into every flower grownAnd he must be keeper of the garden