Hagar :: :: University of Virginia Library

“Under the greenwood tree
Nico and I,
Sing and swing merrily,
For all things love us,
The green earth, the sky
So blue, above us,
And the birds sing to us,
And the great bee hums
One tune, and calls it “Buzz.”

We are glad in the sunshine,
But when the rain comes,
Then we droop and we pine
Like the flowers, all is sad.

A shadow sits by the hearth,
And its name is “Gin!”
They say it walks the earth,
And darkens every home
That it enters in,
O would we might roam
To a land where 'tis not known.”

[“O once my heart was light and gay]

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“O once my heart was light and gay,
As a bird upon the wing,
Life seemed the longest, brightest day
That comes in early Spring.
My mother sat beside the door,
And sang her ballads o'er and o'er.

O dearly loved my father then
Our little cottage home,
He cared not for those wicked men,
He had no wish to roam.
He sat and wove his baskets there,
And sang his songs without a care.

But since my mother went away,
To find a home for me,
In some far land, where morning's ray,
Shines on a Jasper sea;
The shadow o'er my father came,
And blighted all our honest name.

Our cabin is a darksome spot,
Want sits beside the hearth;
And very lonely is my lot.
Without a friend on earth!
O mother, by that Jasper sea,
Dost thou not sometimes think of me?

I sleep, and dream I see thee stand
Beside me as of yore;
I feel the soft touch of thy hand,
And all my grief is o'er.
I waken from my dream, so fair,
To find the loved one is not there!”

[“I'm leaving you, old friends, I'm leaving you]

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“I'm leaving you, old friends, I'm leaving you,
Singing birds and murmuring bees;
Sparkling waters ever flowing on,
And the kindly sheltering trees.
You will miss me, when I'm gone,
Grape-vine swing, where I have swung
Every spring this many a year;
And the songs that I have sung
You no more will bend to hear,
Dear old trees I love so well.”

[“Her song was of summer time]

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“Her song was of summer time,
The very birds sang in her rhyme,
The sunshine, the delicious air,
The fragrance of the flowers were there.”

[The sun's going down by the sycamore tree]

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The sun's going down by the sycamore tree,
The swallows fly low.
They see the gray clouds that move to and fro,
And they know what the morrow will be.
Haste, girls, haste, call up the cows,
The storm is coming on.
Haste, boys, haste, with the hay to the mows,
'Twill rain ere the dawn.

The sun's going down, all cheerless and dim,
The swallows fly low.
Over the meadow they circle and skim.
For soon alas! it will rain they know.
Haste, girls, haste, call up the cows,
The rain will not stay.
Haste, boys, haste, with the hay to the mows,
Now up and away.

“Ho! every one that thirsteth,
List to the song I sing:
Drink water, only water,
The blessed healing water,
The cool and gushing water,
Fresh from a living spring!”

THE SONG OF WATER.

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Let others sing the praises,
Of the rosy, sparkling wine;
I sing a song of the water,
The bright and beautous water,
That comes from the hand Divine.

Chorus.—

Ho! every one that thirsteth,
List to the song I sing:
Drink water, only water,
The blessed, healing water,
The cool and gushing water,
Fresh from a living spring.

God spreads the bounteous water
O'er all the world so wide;
In waterfalls 'tis gushing,
From sea to sea 'tis rushing,
In a bounding, heaving tide.

Chorus.—

Ho! every one that thirsteth, &c.

'Tis water brings us gladness,
And health is in its flow;
But wine, like fire, is burning,
And from it there's no turning,
Till it has wrought us woe.

Chorus.—

Ho! every one that thirsteth, &c.

THE SONG OF THE LOWLY.

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The star that shone so brightly
On wise and holy men,
Has shone for ages nightly,
And it shines for us again.

Chorus.—

O Jesus! pure and holy,
The helper of the lowly,
Help us to be like Thee.

Thou wert on earth a stranger,
A wanderer in the land,
Born in a lowly manger,
That we with Thee might stand.

Chorus.—

O Jesus! pure and holy, &c.

Our hearts are sad and dreary,
No light is in our sky;
But thou on earth wert weary;
Thou wilt not pass us by.

Chorus.—

O Jesus! pure and holy, &c.

[“As I passed along the highway]

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“As I passed along the highway,
So hungry, tired and sore,
I saw a little maiden,
Stand by the cottage door.
A gentle, blue-eyed maiden
With waving, golden hair,
She pointed to the doorway
And said, “Thy home is there.”
“Is this thy home?” I asked her
“O enter in with me,
Be thou my guide, fair maiden!
I shall not fear with thee.
For many greet me coldly,
And bid me go my way,
And better is the scorning
That I have borne to-day.”
“My home is where 'tis summer,
All through the golden year,”
The maiden answered smiling,
“I know thy home is here.”
And as I crossed the threshold,
The sunshine seemed more fair;
I heard a soft voice singing,
But there was no maiden there!”