Take My Ashes To The River

She was the parson's only daughter And a poor sharecropper's dream Her voice as sweet as falling water From the cool clear mountain stream We came to share a love forbidden A union cursed by family To be forever unforgiven When we swore eternity We settled hard on twenty acres Ploughed the fields and worked the land But the fever came to take her With its unforgiving hand I tried to soothe her shaking body But no peace could I provide