Oh! ask me not to sing to-night,

Oh! ask me not to sing to-night

Dejection chills my feeble powers,

I own thy halls of glittering light

Are festive as in former hours.

But when I last amid them moved,

I sung for friends beloved and dear,

Their smiles inspired, their lips approved,

Now all is changed—they are not here.

I gaze around—I view a throng,