"By the Meadow Brook" (1867)
Ballad
Words by George Cooper, 1838-1927
Music by John Rogers Thomas, 1830-1896

Troy, NY: CHARLES H. HARRIS, Nos. 3 & 4 Wotkyns' Block,
Congress Street.
Albany, NY: HARRIS & TRACY
Philadelphia, PA: LEE & WALKER
Engraver: Clayton of N.Y.
[Source: @NYPL]

1. When twilight was falling around,
And the winds in the valley were still,
When nothing was hard but the sound
Of the sad and the lone whiperwill.
We met by the clear meadow brook,
And it sang as it ran to the sea,
And whisper'd to many a nook
On the way, what I whisper'd to thee,

[REFRAIN sung after each verse]
Oh! sweet were the hours that are past
And sweet were the days long ago.
Too bright in their beauty to last,
Too sad in the pain they bestow.

CHORUS [sung after each REFRAIN]
Oh! sweet were the hours that are past
And sweet were the days long ago.
Too bright in their beauty to last,
Too sad in the pain they bestow.

2. I linger once more in my grief,
On the spot where we parted mine own!
The days of our joy they were brief
And I long for the presence alone.
I stray by the brook as of yore,
And it sings on its way to the sea,
But the song that it whisper'd before
Now has fled as thy love has from me,