PRAIRIE ZEPHYR
A
collectioon of original
SONGS
by
J. P. WEBSTER.

"Red on the Bough Hung the Roses of June" (1863)
Words by Emma Alice Browne [1836-1890]
Music by J[ospeh]. P[hilbrick]. Webster [1819-1875]

Chcago, IL: H. M. HIGGINS, 117 Randolph St.
[Source: am4150@Mills]

1. Red on the bough hung the roses of June,
Yet flushed with the kisses of May;
The silverlipped waters were sweetly in tune,
With the winds’ and the birds’ roundelay.
But sweeter than roses that crimsoned the bough
Was the blush of my darling to me;
The soft hair, the sunlight, that slept on her brow,
Was bright as the foam of the sea.

2. The violets that lift the fair lids of the Spring,
When the white dream of Winter is o’er,
Are less pure that the eyes whose lost loveliness fling
Their enchantment around me no more.
And wild as the strain, when the wind of the west
Smites the passionate harp of the sea,
Was the full tide of rapture that heaved her white breast
When the lutestrings were trembling for me.

3. But the lutestrings are broken— the song is unsung—
And hushed is the passionate breast,
For o’er her young beauty is mournfully flung
The silence and sadness of Rest!
And oh! in my bosom forever there lingers
The ghost of unquiet and pain,
For there is no minstrel whose musical fingers
Shall waken those numbers again.