"Love Strong in Death"* (28 Aug 1845)
[Ballad]
Sung by William R. Dempster,
to whom the music is Respectfully inscribed
by the Composer
John Hill Hewitt, 1801-1890

Baltimore, MD: Frederick D. Benteen
Plate No. 616
Webb, Grave' [engraved by]

*The words of this ballad are founded on an anecdote related
of a dying boy--, who in his last moments repeatedly requested
his mother to give him something to keep for her sake.

1.
The brother of two sisters drew painfully his breath,
A strange fear had come o'er him, for love was strong in death;
The fire of fatal fever burn'd darkly on his cheek,
And often to his mother he spoke-- or tried to speak.
He said "the quiet moonlight, beneath the shadow'd hill,
Seem'd dreaming of good angels, while all the woods were still;
I felt as if from slumber I never could awake--
Oh, mother give me something to cherish for your sake,

[REFRAIN sung after each verse]
Oh, mother give me something to cherish for your sake,
Oh, mother give me something to cherish for your sake,

2.
A cold, dead weight is on me, a heavy weight like lead;
My hands and feet seem sinking quite thro' my little bed!
I am so tired and weary-- with weariness I ache--
Oh! mother give me something to cherish for your sake!
Some little token given to me, which I may kiss in sleep,
To make me feel I'm near you, and bless you though I weep;
My sisters say I'm better-- but then, their heads they shake--
Oh, mother, give me something to cherish for your sake!