"Mary Loves the Flowers" (1850)
Song.
Poetry and Music
by Stephen Collins Foster, 1826-1864

1.
Mary loves the flowers!
Ah! how happy they!
E'en their darkest hours,
To me were bright, bright summer day.
Receiving all her kisses,
Inhaling ev'ry sigh,
Ever fondly  bending
Toward the radiance of her eye,
The lily and the morning glory,
Can they, can they die?
Mary loves the flowers!
Ah! how happy they!
E'en their darkest hours,
To me were bright, bright summer day.

2.
Let no elfin finger
Blur from memory's sand
Her name -- ah! let it linger
While my air-built castles stand.
To feel her soft caressing,
Her ev'ry smile to see,
To bear her -- ardent blessing
Breathed in lute-toned melody
To die beneath her tender care
Were life, were life to me.
Mary loves the flowers!
Ah! how happy they!
E'en their darkest hours,
To me were bright, bright summer day.