FAREWELL to the woodlands, farewell to the bowers,
Farewell to the home of our happiest hours,

To pleasant companions, to mirth and to song,

And the kind-hearted friends we have cherish'd so long:
Our cares and our duties forbid us to stay,

But our thoughts shall be with you wherever we stray;
And we'll long for the summer to smile on the plain,
To bid us return to the woodlands again.

II.

And joyous to us shall the memories be

That cling to the scenes where our hearts were so free: If care should perplex us, if sorrow should frown,

Or weariness follow the moil of the town,

We'll think of the days when our faces were bright, With the rambles of morn and the songs of the night; And cherish the hope, amid winter and rain,

That we'll come back with summer to see you again.

And Winter oft has brighter skies

Than April with her sleet and hail.
Our joys and cares are wheat and tares,

And our griefs, when ripe, like the fruit, must fall;
And come what will, 'tis justice still,

For the bright blue sky bends over all.