"I Would Not Die in Spring Time" (1850)
Ballad.
Composed and Arranged
for the
Piano Forte by
[using the psued. (John) Milton (Thomas) Moore]
Stephen Collins Foster, 1826-1864

1.
I would not die in Spring time
  When all is bright around,
And fair young flowers are peeping
  From out the silent ground,
When life is on the water
  And joy upon the shore;
For winter, gloomy winter
  Then reigns o'er us no more.

2.
I would not die in Summer
  When music's on the breeze,
And soft, delicious murmurs
  Float ever through the trees,
And fairy birds are singing
  From morn till close of day --
No: with its transient glories
  I would not pass away.

3.
When breezes leave the mountain,
  Its balmy sweets all o'er --
To breathe around the fountain
  And fan our bowers no more.
When Summer flowers are dying
  Within the lonely glen,
And Autumn winds are sighing --
  I would not perish then.

4.
But let me die in Winter
  When night hangs dark above,
And cold the snow is lying
  On bosoms that we love --
Ah! may the wind at midnight,
  That bloweth from the sea,
Chant mildly, softly, sweetly,
  A requiem for me.