Sweet Sunny South

Sweet Sunny South

Take me back to the place where I first saw the light

To that sweet sunny south take me home

Where the mockingbird sings me to sleep in the night

Oh why was I tempted to roam



And I think with regret of that dear home I left

Of the warm hearts that sheltered me there

Of my wife and of children of whom I'm bereft

For the old place again do I sigh



Take me back to the place where the orange trees grow

To my plot in the evergreen shade

Where the flowers on the river's green margins did grow

They are sweet on the banks where we played

Now the path to our cottage they say has grown green

And the place is quite lonely around

And I know that the smiles and the forms I have seen

Now lie in the dark mossy ground