OH! many, many years ago,
By hill-sides where the violets grow;
Loving the sun in the new spring,
And where the robins came to sing;
A long, sunshiny, quiet way,
To school I led our little MAY.
Day after day, and hand in hand,
We pattered o'er the path of sand;
I plucking violets here and there,
To wreathe in sister's sunny hair;
She singing with the birds a song
That cheered me all the summer long.
And many, many years ago,
Under the first December snow;
With white hands folded on her breast,
They laid our little MAY to rest;
One golden summer, only one,
And birds, and flowers, and MAY were gone.
But where the robins came to sing,
Loving the sun in the new spring;
By hill-sides where the violets grow,
A long, sunshiny, quiet way;
To school I led our little MAY,
Oh! many, many years ago.