"Dark Eyed Norina" (1865)
[NOTE: title page does not use a hyphen
in the song's name]
Ballad
Words by George Cooper, 1840-1927
Music by John Rogers Thomas, 1830-1896

New York: Willaim A. Pond
Plate No. 6084
[Source: @NYPL]

1, Oh! dark-eyed Norina so winning and fair,
I'm dreaming of you, with your glossy black hair,
Tho' years have flown o'er us since we two last met,
The love of our childhood I'll never forget;
Say, don't you remember those dear early days;
The vine-cover'd house, our light-hearted plays,
The brook in the meadow, the old mill of stone,
The kisses I stole love when we were alone?

[REFRAIN sung after each verse]
Oh! dark-eyed Norina my heart breathes a sigh,
For you and the pleasures forever gone by!

2. Ah! why did they darling our pathways divide?
How sweet were life's journey with you by my side,
Your image I cherish in sorrow and tears,
The one golden ray in the gloom of my years;
The faces of shildhood return love to me,
But yours is the fairest of all that I see,
Old care-bringing Time seems to pause in his flow,
To dream in the sunsuhine of days long ago!