"To my Litle Friends." --- Nellie.
"Nellie Wilder" (1879)
Song and Chorus.
by William Shakespeare Hays, 1837-1907
(from "Will S. Hays' Latest Songs"
among a group of four)

1.
Have you never seen nor heard of Nellie Wilder,
With her laughing, roguish eyes of blue?
Skipping o'er the laws just like a fairy,
Dancing on the clover kissed with dew;
She's as pretty as the pictures of an angel.
Her childish face so beautiful and fair,
And her cheeks are like a pair of blushing roses,
That look as if they'd bloom forever there.

CHORUS
Nellie, pretty Nellie Wilder,
See the little darling wait,
Like an angel watching ev'ry eve'ning,
Waiting for her papa at the gate.

2.
Ah! her voice is ever full of sweet music,
And her heart is ever glad and free;
She seems to have a smile for ev'ry body,
But Nellie always has a kiss for me.
I have seen her romping all among the roses,
And I've watch'd her playing mid the flowers rare,
And I could not help but think that little Nellie
Was purer than the fairest flower there.

(CHORUS)

3.
Oh, I dream'd I saw a fleeting form of beauty
Going upward, like an angel in the skies;
And I watch'd it till it vanished like a vision,
And entered thro' the gates of Paradise.
Then a star of beauty shone out like a window,
And I heard a voice that seemed to murmur "wait;"
And I saw the face of Nellie and she murmered,
"I'm waiting here for papa at the gate."

(CHORUS)