Those Nights On Burton's Pond

St. John's in Terra Nova
Is many leagues away;
My thoughts are with that dear old town,
I sigh to be there today.
I think of its sports and pleasures,
But recollection fond
Recalls most vividly of all
Those nights on Burton's Pond.

I've been to the ball and playhouse,
I've roamed through Central Park;
I've listened to famous singers
In the city of New York.
These pleasures are great, I grant you,
But something far beyond
Was the joyous skate with darling Kate
O'er the ice on Burton's Pond.

Oh! Darling, pink-cheeked maiden,
The ocean rolls between,
And the years twixt twenty and forty
Will mercilessly intervene.
But memory brings your bright face back,
Your eyes like the stars beyond,
The eyes that stole my heart that night
We met on Burton's Pond.

Boast of your southern sunny lands,
Your olive groves, your vines;
What are your far niente climes
To this brave home of mine?
Sing loud, you slaves of fashion,
The beauties of beau-mond';
I'd give them all just to recall
Those nights on Burton's Pond.

My Kate adorns another home,
A happy, honoured wife;
And I -- well, p'raps for her dear sake
I lead a lonely life.
Though she has children almost men,
I believe, in her bosom fond,
She oft recalls the moonlight nights
We spent on Burton's Pond.

####.... Maurice A. Devine (1859-1915) of Kings Cove, Bonavista Bay, NL ....####

See more songs by the Devines.

Terra nova - new land; Newfoundland.
Far niente - without a care.
Beau-mond' - beau-monde; beautiful world.