Is all you may fear,

As you watch the sweet-faced summer go,

And the throng of memories that you know.

A sigh for the star that stood in the West,

Now sinking down with the sun to rest,

For the smiles that live in an absent face

Like the blossoms of love in the heart’s clear vase.

A sigh or a tear

Is all you may fear.

A sigh or a tear

Is all you may fear

When you sit in the dusk with a new cigar,

And touch some chord on the old guitar.

A tear for the girl that was good and true,

For the songs of love—the letters, too,

And the ribbon around the roses tied

That long ago in the drawer died.

A sigh or a tear

Is all you may fear.

A sigh or a tear

Is all you may fear

When you raise the lid to the little chest

And find what a mother’s heart loves best,

A broken toy, a half-worn shoe,

Some little dresses of pink and blue,

The blocks that builded such marvelous towers,

A golden curl, and some withered flowers.

A sigh or a tear

Is all you may fear.

A sigh or a tear

Is all you may fear

When you gaze in the tomb of the dear dead past,

Where the shadows of sunshine yet are cast.

A sigh for the rose, though bleached and dried,

That close to the loved one lived and died,

For the voice that is still—once dear to thee—

For the face that is gone—ah me! ah me!

A sigh or a tear

Is all you may fear.