I hope you had a chance to listen to the song Pretty Fair Maid in the Garden. The song is in the public domain, so we can look at all the lyrics. The version I am most familiar with is Tim O’Brien’s from 2005. And so, I hope you enjoy my words – but it is hard for any words to compare to words put to a melody. So, if you haven’t listened, please do. Melody adds so much emotion, and this little song packs a powerful punch.

The song begins:

Pretty fair maid was in her garden
When a stranger came a-riding by
He came up to the gate and called her
Said pretty fair maid would you be my bride

Quite an unusual beginning, huh?

This ballad is believed to have come into existence in England in the 17th century. And it experienced a revival in modern times, being performed by such notables as Joan Baez, the Byrds, and the father of Bluegrass music, Bill Monroe.

I am tempted to tell you the whole story, but think it best if we discover it together as we go along. Most of all, ask yourself, what could have inspired such a ballad? What is the deeper message? And maybe, most importantly — why is it so appealing to us?

The first verse set the stage. Just how, might the fair maiden respond? We find out in the next verse.

She said I’ve a true love who’s in the army

And he’s been gone for seven long years

And if he’s gone for seven years longer

I’ll still be waiting for him here

If the first verse was provocative, the second is a decisive counterpunch. I’ve been thinking about this song a great deal, for I just finished writing a short story about it. From the stranger’s first words, what must this young maid be thinking? Might the stranger even be drunk? Regardless, she does not hesitate. She leaves no room for confusion. She is not interested. And nothing can change this. Even another seven years.

As strange as their conversation has started out, it continues just the same. The stranger does not seem to miss a beat. He heard what she had to say, but then immediately pushes back.

Perhaps he’s on some watercourse drowning
Perhaps he’s on some battlefield slain
Perhaps he’s to a fair girl married
And you may never see him again

I believe our stranger covered the bases, did he not? Not only might her lover be dead, but we have two different options to pick from. But worst of all – what if he found another love and has married? We may think of many things here, but the worst? Would this not make the fair maid an utter fool?

She has been waiting for him for seven long years, and is so committed, she’s willing to wait for another seven and still not give up her pledge. She must be thinking that he’s just this committed to her; and so, if he has not returned, there has to be a legitimate reason. Once this is resolved; return, he will.

Sometimes in making a point it can help to use hyperbole, to exaggerate, to take something to its logical extreme. For our lives are often lived in the grey, in between the black and white, and the truth can be quite foggy and hard to see. And there are often other things involved too, other variables. Much of the time, in our lives, it can be hard to know just what is up.

In his teaching, Jesus often used hyperbole. He did this so it would be easier for us to hear the most important thing.

Please think more about this song until next time.

And think about just why it is so unusual. I don’t know about you, but most of the time, if something characterizes the human race, it is not how loyal and committed we are, to the extreme of being self-sacrificing — but just consumed with ourselves we are, how selfish. When we err, it is usually on the side of self-indulgence, not on the side of self-denial.

Just why may this tension, this dynamic, this polarity . . . be so important?

Next time.

Sam