The Ash Grove

The ash grove how graceful, how plainly 'tis speaking

The harp through its playing has language for me

Whenever the light through its branches is breaking

A host of kind faces is gazing on me

The friends from my childhood again are before me

Each step wakes a memory as freely I roam

With soft whispers laden the leaves rustle o'er me

The ash grove, the ash grove alone is my home

Down yonder green meadow where streamlets meander

When twilight is fading I pensively rove

Or in the bright noon tide in solitude wander

Amid the dark spaces of that lonely ash grove

'Twas there while the black bird was cheerfully singing

I first met my dear one the joy of my heart

Around us for gladness the blue bells were springing

The ash grove, the ash grove that sheltered my home

My lips smile no more, my heart loses its lightness

No dream of the future my spirit can cheer

I only can brood on the past and its brightness

The dear ones I long for again gather here

From ev'ry dark nook they press forward to meet me

I lift up my eyes to the broad leafy dome

And others are there, looking downward to greet me

The ash grove, the ash grove, again is my home

The ash grove is my home