Minnetonka Songs ‎#81

81. The Reaper and the Flowers

1 There is a Reaper, whose name is Death,
And with his sickle keen,
He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,
And the flow'rs that grow between.

2 "Shall I have naught that is fair?" saith he;
"Have naught but the bearded grain?
Though the breath of these flow'rs is sweet to me,
I'll give them all back again."

3 He gazed at the flow'rs with tearful eyes,
He kissed their drooping leaves;
It was for the Lord in Paradise,
He bound them in his sheaves.

4 "My Lord hath need of these flow'rets gay"
The Reaper said, and smil'd;
"Dear tokens of the earth are they,
Where he was once a child."

5 "They shall all bloom in fields of light,
Transplanted by my care,
And saints upon their garments white
These sacred blossoms wear."

6 And the mother gave in tears and pain,
The flowers she most did love;
She knew she should find them all again
In the fields of light above.

7 Oh, not in cruelty, not in wrath,
The Reaper came that day;
'Twas an angel visited the green earth,
And took the flow'rs away.

Text Information

• First Line: There is a Reaper, whose name is Death
• Title: The Reaper and the Flowers
• Author: Longfellow
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1879

Tune Information

• Name: [There is a Reaper, whose name is Death]
• Adapter: W. Ludden
• Key: C Major