"Where Are the Happy Dreams of Childhood?"
Traditional German Folksong

1.
Where are the happy dreams of childhood,
With their love and their truth,
Those visions of beauty
That dazzled our youth?
  They passed like the clouds
  By the morning unrolled,
  Bedecked with the glory,
  Bedecked with the glory,
  Bedecked with the glory
  Of crimson and gold.
  Bedecked with the glory
  Of crimson and gold.

2.
Where are the happy dreams of manhood,
That seemed true and secure?
So strong and so certain,
Of success ever sure;
  As we near the mirage
  It sinks in the sand;
  We grasp at the bubble,
  We grasp at the bubble,
  We grasp at the bubble,
  It bursts in our hands.
  We grasp at the bubble,
  It bursts in our hands.

3.
Let us live in the present,
There's no truth in our dreams:
They melt like the rainbow's
Enchanting beams.
  In youth's morning beauty,
  In manhood, old age,
  The true and the lasting,
  The true and the lasting,
  The true and the lasting,
  Our thoughts should engage.
  The true and the lasting,
  Our thoughts should engage.