The al­der by the ri­ver
Shakes out her pow­dery curls;
The wil­low buds in sil­ver
For lit­tle boys and girls.
The lit­tle birds fly ov­er,
And oh, how sweet they sing!
To tell the hap­py child­ren
That once again ’tis spring.

Refrain

Who is it brings the flow­ers,
Adorning earth anew?
’Tis God! ah, hap­py child­ren,
He makes them all for you!

The ver­dant grass comes creep­ing
So soft be­neath their feet;
The frogs be­gin to rip­ple
A mu­sic clear and sweet;
And but­ter­cups are com­ing,
And scar­let co­lum­bine;
And in the sun­ny mea­dows
The dan­de­li­ons shine.

Refrain

And just as ma­ny dai­sies
As their soft hands can hold,
The lit­tle ones may ga­ther
All fair in white and gold;
Here blows the warm red clov­er,
There peeps the vio­let blue!
O hap­py, hap­py child­ren,
God makes them all for you!

Refrain