I Would Not Die In Springtime

This song was published in 1850 and earned a total in royalties of $78.12 for Foster. Apparently, Stephen Foster had a fear of death from early in his life. Background music is in the key of D


4   5   -4   5  -5    6     5
I would not die in Spring-time

  4  -4  -5   5   -4   4
When all is bright a-round,

 6   -6    6     -6    -7    7  -7
And fair young flowers are peep-ing

 -6   6   5   5   4    -4
From out the si-lent ground,

  5   -5   5 -5 -4   5  6
When life is on the wa-ter

 6  -6  -7  7 -8   -7
And joy up-on the shore;

7 -8  8  -8     7  -7 -6-7  7
Fo-r win-ter, gloom-y wi-n-ter

 -6    6     5   -4 -4   4
Then reigns o'er us no more.

Stephen Foster's School of Music For The Harmonica

verse 2
I would not die in Summer when music's on the breeze,
And soft, delicious murmurs float ever through the trees,
And fairy birds are singing from morn till close of day
No: with its transient glories I would not pass away.

Verse 3
When breezes leave the mountain,
Its balmy sweets all o'er
To breathe around the fountain
And fan our bowers no more.
When Summer flowers are dying
Within the lonely glen,
And Autumn winds are sighing
I would not perish then.

Verse 4
But let me die in Winter
When night hangs dark above,
And cold the snow is lying
On bosoms that we love
Ah! may the wind at midnight
That bloweth from the sea,
Chant mildly, softly, sweetly
A requiem for me.

Purchase Suzuki Folkmaster Harmonica
from Coast to Coast Music