Inscribed to
Miss Mabel Kellogg
of Chicago.
"Iola of the Dell" (1881)
Song and Chorus.
Words by Eliza M. Sherman
Music by Thomas Martin Towne, 1835-1912

1.
I heard a tender song,
More sweet than lay of birds
Or ripple of the running brook,
A song with sweetest words,
In tender notes of love
The words like music fell,
As o'er the dewy mead she tripp'd,
Iola of the Dell.

CHORUS
That sweet and tender song,
Once more the fond words tell,
Iola, sweetest little one,
The pride of all the dell;
That sweet and tender song,
Once more the fond words tell,
Iola, sweetest little one,
The pride of all the dell.

2.
Oh sing of love once more,
And ere the roses die,
Oh promise to my waiting arms,
My darling, you will fly.
I'm watching all the day,
And long to feel the spell
Of that sweet story of thy love,
Iola of the Dell.

(CHORUS)

3.
The robins sing for thee
A welcome, soft and low,
The violets upon the air
Their sweetest perfume throw.
Then haste and come to me,
Our love once more we'll tell,
And pledge our vows beneath the stars,
Iola of the Dell.

(CHORUS)