As sung with great applause by Mme. Anna Bishop.
To Mrs. G. D. Van Nostrand of Armstrong Place, L. I.
"'Tis But a Little Faded Flower" (1860)
Ballad
Words by Frederick Enoch, Esq.
Muic by John Rogers Thomas, 1830-1896

New York: William A. Pond & Co., 547 Broadway
Boston: Oliver Ditson & Co.
Cincinnati: C. Y. Fonda
Pittsburg: Henry Kleber & Bro.
Plate No. 5026
[Source: @NYPL]

1. ’Tis but a little faded flow’r, 
But oh! how fondly dear, 
’Twill bring me back one golden hour, 
Through many through many a weary year. 
I may not to the world impart 
The secret, the secret of its pow’r, 
But treasured in my inmost heart, 
I keep my faded flow’r, 
I keep my faded flow’r. 
’Tis but a little faded flow’r, 
But oh! how fondly dear, 
’Twill bring me back one golden hour 
Through many, through many a weary year.

2. Where is the heart that doth not keep,
Within its inmost core,
Some fond remembrance, hidden deep,
Of days, of days that are no more.
Who hath not saved some trifling thing,
More prized, more prized than jewels rare?
A faded flow’r, a broken ring,
A tress of golden hair, a tress of golden hair.
’Tis but a little faded flow’r,
But oh! how fondly dear,
’Twill bring me back one golden hour,
Through many, through many a weary year.