But I said to myself,
Oh that none of them know,
There's a secret I shelter and savor and save.
I wait for the one who will see through my seeming
And I'll know when I love by the way I behave.

The years drifted o'er me like clouds in the heavens,
The laddies went by me like snow on the wind.
I charmed and I cheated, deceived and dissembled,
And I sinned, and I sinned, and I sinned, and I sinned.

But I said to myself,
Oh that none of them know,
There's a part of me pure as the wisk of a wave.
My laddie is late but he'll find I've been faithful
And I'll know when I love by the way I behave.

At last came a laddie both knowing and tender
Saying, "You're not at all as they claim you to be."
I betrayed him before he could quite finish speaking
And he swallowed cold poison and jumped in the sea.

Now I say to myself,
When there's time for a word,
As I gracefully grow more debauched and depraved.
A love may be strong but a habit is stronger
And I knew when I loved by the way I behaved.