Respectfully dedicated to
William N. Toy, Esq.
BALLAD
"As We Gathered in the Hay" (1857)
Worda & Music by Alice Hawthorne
[pseud. for Septimus Winner, 1827-1902]

[Source: 1885-16737@LoC]

1.
Oh! fair was the day, and I never can forget
How dear to my heart as the moments roll'd away;
For yet do I dream of the morning that we met,
And the joys that were mine as we gather'd in the hay.
The song of the bird was as cheerful as could be,
But I heard not the tone of its merry morning lay,
For thy voice like a charm with its music came to me,
When I toil'd by thy side as we gather'd in the hay.

2.
Tho' few be the years that have faded since the morn,
How great is the change as their shadows' all depart;
The days come and go, but their moments have not worn
The smile from thine eye, nor the love within thy heart;
Oh then is it not like a pleasure to recall, --
As we turn to the morn with its sunny scene so gay,
How we paus'd 'neath the shade of the trees so green and tall,
When the sun was high as we gather'd in the hay.