From the recording I Am Stretched on Your Grave
This songs words come from an anon. 17th century Irish poem called "Taim Sinte ar do Thuama" which was translated by Frank O'Connor in the early 1900's. According to Wikipedia "the tune had existed since at least 1928 and been associated with the poem as a song, since it is to the tune of "Taim Sinte ar do Thuamba" that Hymn #47 in Danta De: Idir Sean agus Nuad (the Trinity Sunday hymn "Dia an t-Athair do shealbhaig flaitheas naomhtha") is set. The hymnal says the tune is from Munster." In 1979 Philip King recorded a adaptation that most of the current versions are based on.
Lyrics
I Am Stretched on Your Grave
I am stretched on your grave, and I'll lie here forever
If your hands were in mine I'd be sure they would not sever
My apple tree, my brightness it's time we were together
For I smell of the earth and am worn by the weather
When my family thinks that I'm safely in my bed
From night until morn I am stretched out at your head
Calling out to the earth with tears hot and wild
For the loss of the girl that I loved as a child
Do you remember the night oh the night when we were lost
In the shade of the blackthorn and the touch of frost
And thanks be to Jesus we did what was right
And your maiden head still is your pillar of light
The priests and the friars they approach me in dread
For I still love you oh my life and you're dead
I still would be your shelter through rain and through storm
And with you in your cold grave I cannot sleep warm
So I am stretched on your grave and I’ll lie here forever
If your hands were in mine I'd be sure they would not sever
My apple tree, my brightness it's time we were together
For I smell of the earth and am worn by the weather