Last Farewell, Lyric Variant 02

This item is part of the I. G. Greer Folksong Collection which consists of more than 300 individual song titles and their variants as collected by Isaac Garfield Greer (1881-1967) from informants, primarily in Ashe, Wilkes and Watauga counties. The collection includes manuscripts, typescript transcriptions produced by Dr. Greer’s clerical staff, and handwritten musical notations. Songs range from traditional Child Ballads, traditional English and Scottish ballads as well as their American variants, to 19th century popular music to musical compositions of local origin.

Folk songs--United States

Unrequited love--Songs and music

Time--Songs and music

Regret--Songs and music

So You've Come Back to Me, You Say, So You've Come Back

AC.113 Isaac Garfield (I.G.) Greer Papers and Recordings

W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Appalachian State University

Greer, I. G. (Isaac Garfield), 1881-1967

PDF

English

Text

Too Late

So you’ve come back to me,
The old, old love is living yet.
You've tried through all these weary years,
Have tried, but vainly, to forget.
So now you’ve come to me once more
Since time at last has made you free,
And offer me again the heart
Whose earthly hopes were bound in me.

Come closer, let me see you now,
The chestnut locks that are touched with snow,
But ‘tis the same, the dear old face
I loved so fondly long ago—
The same as on that summer day
Bent over me and kissed my brow.
Oh, happy trusting hour of love!
Ah, well, it is all over now.

No, no you must not take my hand.
God never gives us back our youth.
The love, the faith you asked for then
Were yours, dear friend, in perfect truth.
‘Ere woman’s love and woman’s ways
Wake doubt and anguish in my breast,
You left me and my heart is dead
No sound can disturb its rest.

Forgive you? Do not speak the word,
You never meant to do me wrong.
God sent this anguish to my heart
To help make me brave and strong.
Farewell, I think I love you yet
As friends love friends, God bless you, dear,
And lead you through the coming years
The where the sky is bright and clear.

Randolph, 761

113_LastFarewell_Lyric_02