"The Little Bridge" (1884)
Ballad
For Alto or Baritone
As sung by
Ivan Morawski.
Composed by
George Washbourne Morgan, 1822-1892.

New York: Willis Woodward & Co., 819 Broadway
[Source: 1884-03332@LoC]

1 They parted on the little bridge 
Which spans the running water, 
The brighteyed youth with fluent tongue, 
And she the yeoman’s daughter, 
A few fond words, a stolen kiss, 
A little golden trinket, 
’Twas all— but that his heart could change, 
She did not dare to think it.

2. He journeyed to bright southern lands, 
Where tropic skies bent o’re him, 
And wooed blind fortune till she cast 
A shower of gold before him, 
A ribbon marked his high degree, 
His name had added letters, 
And not on him was any sign, 
Of life’s more galling fetters.

3. The maiden’s path lay towardst the north;
She toiled for daily guerdon, 
And meekly bore her low estate, 
Nor felt the task a burden.
Till “hope deferred”  her spirit broke, 
And thorns seemed springing round her, 
And thoughts  that once were purest joy, 
Had only pow’r to wound her.

4. And yet sometimes she sees the bridge, 
And hears the river flowing, 
When mem’ry lifts the shroud of years, 
The dead past calmly showing;
And sometimes he in idle mood 
’Mid silence all unbroken, 
Just wonders if the bridge still stands 
Where their last words were spoken.

“The Little Bridge” still lightly spans 
The rippling running water, 
But no bridge spans the gulf, ’twixt him, 
And her— the yeoman’s daughter.