Within the fire and out upon the sea Crazy man Michael was walking He met with a raven with eyes black as coals And shortly they were a-talking Your future, your future I would tell to you Your future you often have asked me Your true love will die by your own right hand And crazy man Michael will cursèd be Michael he ranted and Michael he raved And beat up the four winds with his fists o He laughed and he cried, he shouted and he swore For his mad mind had trapped him with a kiss o You speak with an evil, you speak with a hate You speak for the devil that haunts me For is she not the fairest in all the broad land Your sorcerer¹s words are to taunt me He took out his dagger of fire and of steel And struck down the raven through the heart o The bird fluttered long and the sky it did spin And the cold earth did wonder and startle O where is the raven that I struck down dead And here did lie on the ground o I see that my true love with a wound so red Where her lover¹s heart it did pound o Crazy man Michael he wanders and calls And talks to the night and the day o But his eyes they are sane and his speech it is plain And he longs to be far away o Michael he whistles the simplest of tunes And asks of the wild wolves their pardon For his true love is flown into every flower grown And he must be keeper of the garden