I dreamt, ’twas but a dream, thou wert my bride, Love! I dreamt that we were wand'ring; side by side, Love! I earth’s happiest son, And thou, her loveliest daughter, While fairy bells came tinkling o'er the water. Merrily, merrily, merrily, it fell, Merrily, merrily, merrily, it fell, The echo of that fairy bell.
That vision past away, and thou hast left me To mourn the hopes thy falsehood hath bereft me; No more I claim thy promised hand, No more in dreams I see thee stand, While soft, sweet, soft and low, Soft, sweet, and low it fell, The echo of that fairy bell.
Now, when I’m musing sad and lonely, With but my harp and thy remembrance only, In vain, as o’er those chords I bend, One joyful note I try to send, For sad, sad, and changed, Sad, sad, and changed they seem, The fairy hells of that dear dream.