"Nell and I" (1861)
Ballad
Written and Composed
(Poetry and Music) by
Stephen Collins Foster, 1826-1864

1.
We parted in the spring time of life,
      Nell and I,
  With all our gushing joys in bloom,
But now we've met the worlds busy strife,
      Nell and I,
  And suffered from its dark chilling gloom.
    Yet my heart will sigh
    For those days gone by,
  That flow in my mem'ry's sweet refrain,
We parted in the spring time of life,
      Nell and I,
  And I'll never see her bright smiles again.
  
2.
We made our little huts on the shore,
      Nell and I,
  And covered them with bright colored shells,
We gathered moss and fern from the moor,
      Nell and I,
  And pluck'd the dewy flow'rs from the dells.
    But the days roll'd round
    And the rude world frown'd,
  As time with its bitter cares fled on,
We left our little huts on the shore,
      Nell and I,
  And we left our brightest hopes in their dawn.

3.
We wandered by the bright running streams,
      Nell and I,
  And gamboled o'er the wide grassy lawn,
We met again in light sportive dreams,
      Nell and I,
  When the weary hours of twilight had flown.
    And our hearts proved true,
    'Till a coldness grew,
  'Twas caused by some unrelenting foe,
We'll roam upon the dawn never more,
      Nell and I,
  Nor wander where the bright rivers flow.