It's about a man mourning for his dead love. The first few verses are self-explanatory - he is sat by (or lying on) her grave, crazed by his grief and wishing he were dead too so they could be reunited ("it's time we were together, for I smell of the earth).
The third verse is him remembering a night that they spent together where he is grateful that they "did what was right" - not having sex before they were married. He goes on to say "your maidenhead still is you pillar of light" so she still has her honour because she's a virgin. I personally don't have a problem with premarital sex but this song is based on a much older Irish poem that was later translated into English and obviously in those days, it was considered sacriledge.
He then goes on to talk about how the priests and friars "approach me in dread" although in other versions of the song they are angry with him. It's all for the same reason though - he is taking too long to mourn and him wishing he was dead is wrong/goes against God because in those days suicide was also considered sinful (ergo, the big "Oh, that this too too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew. Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd His canon 'gainst self slaughter..." in Hamlet).
And then the rest is, again, pretty self explantory.
It's about a man mourning for his dead love. The first few verses are self-explanatory - he is sat by (or lying on) her grave, crazed by his grief and wishing he were dead too so they could be reunited ("it's time we were together, for I smell of the earth).
The third verse is him remembering a night that they spent together where he is grateful that they "did what was right" - not having sex before they were married. He goes on to say "your maidenhead still is you pillar of light" so she still has her honour because she's a virgin. I personally don't have a problem with premarital sex but this song is based on a much older Irish poem that was later translated into English and obviously in those days, it was considered sacriledge.
He then goes on to talk about how the priests and friars "approach me in dread" although in other versions of the song they are angry with him. It's all for the same reason though - he is taking too long to mourn and him wishing he was dead is wrong/goes against God because in those days suicide was also considered sinful (ergo, the big "Oh, that this too too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew. Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd His canon 'gainst self slaughter..." in Hamlet).
And then the rest is, again, pretty self explantory.