Silently they sit at their dwellings listening to the evening song of the nighti

Question:

Silently they sit at their dwellings listening to the evening song of the nightingale?

apparantly these lines are from an early saxon poem does anyone know the rest and maybe the author and maybe the date whew........!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Hi,
Reading your question reminded me of a song we used to sing at school. Looked it up and found it. Doesn't answer your question but brought back some pleasant memories, thank you.
Sweet Nightingale

My sweetheart come along, don't you hear the fond song
The sweet notes of the nightingale flow?
Don't you hear the fond tale of the sweet nightingale
As she sings in the valley below, as she sings in the valley below.

Pretty Betty don't fail, for I'll carry your pail
Safe home to your cot as we go:
You shall hear the fond tale of the sweet nightingale

Refrain:

Pray let me alone, I have hands of my own,
And along with you sir I'll not go
For to hear the fond tale of the sweet nightingale

Refrain:

Pray sit yourself down with me on the ground
On the bank where the primroses grow
You shall hear the fond tale of the sweet nightingale

Refrain:

So she sat herself down with him on the ground
On the bank where the primroses grow
And she heard the fond tale of the sweet nightingale

Refrain:

The couple agreed to be married with speed
And along to the church they did go
Now no more she's afraid for to walk in the shade
Or to sit in those valleys below,
Or to sit in those valleys below.

Polly