Respectfully Dedicated
To Miss Lissie Hetzell
of Philadelphia
"The Heart's Mission" (1857)
Words and Music by
Septimus Winner
(aka Alice Hawthorne)

1.
Oh! dreary was the world to me,
"A vale of fear" -- of sin and woe,
My weary heart could find no rest,
Where e'er my truant feet might go.
I learn'd to hate the haunts of man,
And spurn'd the soul with pity fraught,
For human hearts seem'd all deceit,
And for a coin were sold and bought,
For human hearts seem'd all deceit,
And for a coin were sold and bought.

2.
A spell came o'er me and I slept,
An Angel then I seem'd to see,
Who gently said, "Oh! change thy fate,
And this thy heart's new mission be."
"Go love thy neighbour as thyself
With earnest heart devout and true,
Do unto others as thou wouldst
That others unto thee should do,
Do unto others as thou wouldst
That others unto thee should do."

3.
I wakened from my vision,
Resolv'd to win the smiles of all,
And with a motive true to love,
Induce the charm of friendship's call,
Oh! then I found new joys on earth,
With friends that met my warmth esteem,
And human nature own'd not half
The selfish heart that men would deem,
And human nature own'd not half
The selfish heart that men would deem.