The Song of the Olden Time

There's a song of the olden time,
  Falling sad o'er the ear,
Like the dream of some village chime,
  Which in youth we loved to hear.
And even amidst the grand and gay,
  When Music tries her gentlest art
I never hear so sweet a lay,
  Or one that hangs so round my heart,
As that song of the olden time,
  Falling sad o'er the ear,
Like the dream of some village chime,
  Which in youth we loved to hear,

And when all of this life is gone,—
  Even the hope, lingering now,
Like the last of the leaves left on
  Autumn's sere and faded bough,—
'Twill seem as still those friends were near,
  Who loved me in youth's early day,
If in that parting hour I hear
  The same sweet notes and die away,—
To that song of the olden time,
  Breathed, like Hope's farewell strain,
To say, in some brighter clime,
  Life and youth will shine again!