[Verse 1]
I am a youth inclined to ramble
To some foreign country, I am lean to steer
I'm loathe to part from my friends and comrades
And my dear sweetheart, whom I love dear
But there's one of those I do most admire
On her I'll think when I'm far away
For since fate's decreed I am resolved to part her
And try my fortune in America
So farewell, darling, since I must leave you

[Verse 2]
I place great dependence on your constancy
That no other young man may gain your favor
Or change your mind when I am o'ersеa
For although the seas, they do sеparate us
And in between us they do rise and fall
If fortune favors me, you'll find your Shorty
Returning homeward from America

[Verse 3]
Oh, Shorty dear, do you remember
When I sat with you for many's the hour?
And my young fancy away was carried
And the bees hummed around us on each opening flower
But when you're crossing the western ocean
The maid that loved you you'll ne'er mind ever
And you'll scarce e'er think upon the maids of Erin
For you'll find strange sweethearts in America
[Verse 4]
Oh, Mary dear, I don't dissemble
For to all other fair maids I'll prove untrue
And if you think that these are false promises
I'll leave these vows as a pledge to you
That what I do may prove unsuccessful
And fortune prove to be a slippery bull
That a favoring gale, it may ne'er blow on me
If I forsake you in America

[Verse 5]
And so to conclude and to end these verses
May God protect this young female fair
And keep her from every wild embarrassment
And of my darling, take the greatest care
For she's slow to anger and of kind disposition
And her cheeks like roses in June do blow
And in my nightly slumbers whene'er I think on her
I could conjure her vision in America