a 1920 popular song
words by Ballard MacDonald
music by James F. Hanley
The sheet music:
Accompaniment:
Lyrics
- A garden that never knew sunshine
Once sheltered a beautiful rose
In the shadows it grew without sunlight or dew
As a child of the city grows
A butterfly flew to the garden
From out of the blue sky above
The heart of the rose set a-flutter
With a wonderful tale of love
He told her of birds and of bees
Of the brooks and the meadows and trees
He whispered
Refrain
Rose of Washington Square
A flower so fair
Should blossom where the sun shines
Rose for nature did not mean
that you should blush unseen
but be the queen of some fair garden
Rose I’ll never depart
but dwell in your heart
Your love to care
I’ll bring the sunbeams from the heavens to you
And give you kisses that sparkle with dew
My Rose of Washington Square
- But after the summer comes autumn
When flowers their petals must close
For the song birds are still and the breezes are chill
To the cheek of the blushing rose
The gay butterfly’s wings are folded
The heart of the rose has grown cold
A butterfly lives but a season
And a rose in a week grows old
The meadows, the brooks and the trees
Like the birds and the flowers and bees
Need sunshine
Sung here by Fred Feild: