Within the fire and out upon the sea
Crazy man Michael was walking
He met with a raven with eyes black as coals
And shortly they were a-talking
Your future, your future I would tell to you
Your future you often have asked me
Your [bad word] love will die by your own right hand
And crazy man Michael will cursèd be 

Michael he ranted and Michael he raved
And beat up the four winds with his fists o
He laughed and he cried, he shouted and he swore
For his mad mind had trapped him with a kiss o
You speak with an evil, you speak with a hate
You speak for the devil that haunts me
For is she not the fairest in all the broad land
Your sorcerer¹s words are to taunt me

He took out his dagger of fire and of steel
And [bad word] down the raven through the heart o
The bird fluttered long and the sky it did spin
And the cold earth did wonder and startle
O where is the raven that I [bad word] down dead
And here did lie on the ground o
I see that my [bad word] love with a wound so red
Where her lover¹s heart it did pound o

Crazy man Michael he wanders and calls
And talks to the night and the day o
But his eyes they are sane and his speech it is plain
And he longs to be far away o
Michael he whistles the simplest of tunes
And asks of the wild wolves their pardon
For his [bad word] love is flown into every flower grown
And he must be keeper of the garden

Songwriter: Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick