"Let Us Hope for the Best" (31 July 1850)
Ballad
Written and Composed
by John Hill Hewitt, 1801-1890

New York: William Hall & Son, 239 Broadway
Plate No. 818
[Source: 472000@LoC]

1.
Let us hope for the best, while we've strength to move on;
It is folly to pine if we tread on a thorn;
There are roses around to be gather'd at will,
With their tint and the odor they gently distill.

The dews that come down with the moon's mellow light,
Are nothing but tears from the eyelids of night;
So the tears that we shed for the joys that depart,
Like the dew to the rose, are the balm to the heart.

2.
Let us hope for the best, we have love that will last,
Tho' the sky of our life be sorrow o'ercast;
There is joy in that love, tho' it be old in years,
And its wings cannot spread-they are sprinkled with tears!

The world is as cold as those bright floating isles,
That borrow the sunbeams and seem to wear smiles;
Let us fashion a sweet little world of our own,
In an ocean of sunlight-alone-alone!