Willow Garden

The Willow Garden is a scary poem that tells the story of a young man who got a young girl pregnant and then decides to kill her. It is based on an old Irish murder ballad known as “The Willow Garden” or “Rose Connelly” and a traditional Irish song called “Roisin The Beau”.

Down in the willow garden
My true love and I did meet,
And there we sat a-courting
My love fell off to sleep

I had a bottle of burgundy wine
My love, she did not know
And there I poisoned that dear little girl
Down by the banks below

I drew my knife right through her heart,
It was a bloody night.
I threw her in the river then,
It was a dreadful sight.

My father always told me
That money would set me free
If I did murder that dear little girl
Whose name was Rose Connelly

Now he sits by his old cabin door
And he’s wiping his tear-brimmed eyes
He’s mourning for his only son
Out on the scaffold high.

I’ve travelled the world over,
And I knew someday I’d go.
To where the fires are burning,
Down in hell below.

My race is run beneath the sun
And the devil’s now waiting for me
For I did murder that pretty little girl
Whose name was Rose Connelly.