Poor Butterfly
Yearning Beneath Cherry Blossoms: Poor Butterfly's Tale of Love
Lyrics
There's a story told of a little Japanese
Introduction of a story about a young Japanese woman
Sitting demurely 'neath the cherry blossom trees
Describing her sitting gracefully under cherry blossom trees
Miss Butterfly's her name
Revealing the name "Miss Butterfly"
A sweet little innocent child was she
Portraying her as a sweet and innocent child
Till a fine young American from the sea
Introducing a young American man who came from the sea
To her garden came
Describing their encounter in her garden
They met beneath the cherry blossoms every day
Highlighting their frequent meetings under cherry blossoms
And he taught her how to love the American way
Indicating that he taught her the American way of love
To love with a soul 'twas easy to learn
Expressing that learning to love with a soul was easy
Then he sailed away with a promise to return
Narrating his departure with a promise to return
Poor Butterfly 'neath the blossoms waiting
Describing Miss Butterfly waiting under the blossoms
Poor Butterfly, for she loved him so
Expressing her love and the difficulty of waiting
The moments pass into hours
Noting the passage of time from moments to hours
The hours pass into years
Highlighting the prolonged duration into years
And as she smiles through her tears
Describing her smiling through tears, possibly enduring hardship
She murmurs low
Recording her low murmurs, expressing her emotions
The moon and I
Referring to a connection between the moon and Miss Butterfly
Know that he'll be faithful
Expressing confidence in the American's faithfulness
I'm sure he'll come to me by and by
Believing he will return in the future
But if he won't come back
Contemplating the possibility of his non-return
Then I'll never sigh or cry
Expressing resilience in the face of potential heartbreak
I just must die
Conveying a sense of despair or inevitability if he doesn't return
Poor Butterfly
Summarizing Miss Butterfly's tragic fate
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