Mark Erelli - Take My Ashes To The River lyrics

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 She said I hear the angles singing softly I'm bound to cross that Great Divide CHORUS Take my ashes to the river Where the water's cold and deep Take my ashes to the river Pray the Lord my soul to keep One mournful morning in late November Faithful to her last desire I burned her body down to embers Scooped the ashes from the fire Down on the banks of the Blackstone River For to drown her memory As her spirit I delivered I heard her calling out to me (CHORUS)