Battling with life,
’Mid care and strife,
The daily toils in hope I undergo;
Yet mem’ry will wander,
Fonder oh, fonder,
To the dear old folks I loved long ago.
Long years have gone
Since in the morn
Of life I heard the river’s gentle flow;
And oft mem’ry lingers,
As point time’s fingers,
To the dear old folks I loved long ago.
Dell, hill, and tree,
Flower, bird, and bee,
All as of yore, make music sweet and low,
And, though on earth riven,
I hope to meet in heaven
The dear old folks I loved long ago.
Then up, my soul,
Strive for the goal,
Oh, linger not to weep and wail in woe;
For far in yon azure blue
Methinks I yet may know
The dear old folks I loved long ago.