"Sweet Green Leaves" (circa 1850s)
Words & Music by Eliza Cook, 1818-1889
Sung by the Russell Family in Their Vocal Entertainments

[Source: London: Musical Bouquet, No. 439, pages 23-26]

1.
Take me to the hill side,
Take me to the rill side,
Where the scarlet pimpernel,
And starry daisies grow.
Where the woodbine wreathing,
Greets the zephyrs breathing,
Where the foam-pearls dance upon
The ripples as they flow.
Take me to the valleys,
Where thick and shady alleys,
Will lead me to red clover fields,
And plains of yellow sheaves.
And I'll sing to bees and flowers,
I'll tell the woodland bowers,
That my heart brings back its own love
To the sweet green leaves:
And I'll sing to bees and flowers,
I'll tell the woodland bowers,
That my heart brings back its old love
To the sweet green leaves.

2.
Take me where the birds fly,
Take me where the herds lie,
Where the ring-dove nestles,
And the browsing heifer lows.
Where the brake will hide me
From the fawn beside me,
Where the pebbly runnel kisses
Wild-moss, reed, and rose.
Take me where the sunlight
Only sheds a dun light;
Where the arm of Lady Birch
With oak and alder weaves.
And their branches bent with glory,
Shall tell the same old story,
That bard and poet sing the best
'Mid sweet green leaves.
And their branches bent with glory,
Shall tell the same old story,
That bard and poet sing the best
'Mid sweet green leaves.