"They Smile and Speak as They Pass By" (1883)
Serio Comic Ditty
by
Frank[lin]. Drayton

Philadelphia, PA: M. D. SWISHER, No. 123, S. 10th St.
Worley & Hart, Lith., 117 N. 4th St., Philadelphia, PA
[Source: 139/008@Levy]

1. They smile and speak as they pass by,
And do you know the reason why,
They’re “doo de doos” and can not tell,
The false from true love’s witching spell,
They smile and ogle as they smile,
And doubt each other all the while,
True love ne’er ran in such a stream,
As wise to search for’t in a dream.

CHORUS [sung after each VERSE]
They smile and speak as they pass by,
And do you know the reason why?
They doo dee doos,
And cannot tell,
The false from true cove’s ’witching spell.

2. The smile of true affection ne’er,
Is found in ev’ry passing stare.
But springs unbidden from the heart,
Once touch’d by cupid’s fatal dart,
It is not seen upon the street,
By each dude you chance to meet,
But in the lone sequester’d dell,
Where love delights its hopes to tell.

3. The smile bestow’d on ev’ry face,
Is like a jewel out of place.
Its lustre but reveals the shame,
That follows an illicit flame,
While that which true love doth impart,
Beams brightly from each loving heart,
The same where e’er we chance to meet,
In grotto fair or crowded street.