One winter's Eve I went a walking out beyond the city gate   For to fetch a fresh young pheasant for my darling's dinner plate   It was snowing oh so quietly and the woods were wide and soft   Just the sound of snowflakes falling and the footsteps as I walked   There I saw a fresh young pheasant and I shot and killed him there   And I heard a distant church bell as the bird fell from the air   As I held his dying body the strangest thought came over me   God had made this little body that I had killed so faultlessly   All the woods were dark and shadowed with the light the cold stars gave   I sent a prayer to God in heaven and covered up the little grave   And covered up the little grave