"Let Me Kiss Him for His Mother" (1859)
Written by John P. Ordway
Composed by Luther Orlanda Emerson

The verses of this song ballad were suggested
by a touching incident which is said to have
occurred at New Orleans during the dreadful
fever season. A young man, who had died there,
lonely and a stranger, was about to be carried
to the grave when a lady passed to the coffin
and pressed her lips to his forehead, saying,
"Let me kiss him for his mother."

[Source: pp. 290-293, reprinted in "The Parlour Song Book"]

1.
Let me kiss him for his mother,
  Let me kiss his youthful brow;
I will love him for his mother,
  And seek her blessing now.
Kind friends have sooth'd his pillow,
  Have watch'd his ev'ry care;
Beneath the weeping willow,
  O lay him gently there.

CHORUS [sung after each verse]
Sleep, dearest, sleep,
I love you as a brother,
Kind friends around you weep,
I've kiss'd you for your mother.

2.
Let me kiss his for his mother,
  What tho' left a stranger here;
She has him as none other,
  I feel her blessing near.
Tho' cold that form lies sleeping,
  He wears an angel's crown;
Dear friends around are weeping,
  O lay him gently down.

3.
Let me kiss him for his mother,
  Or perchance a sister dear;
If a father or a brother,
  I feel their blessing here.
Then kiss him for his mother,
  'Twill soothe her after years;
Farewell, dear stranger brother,
  Our requiem our tears.