A Father's Lament

In a cavern, in a canyon, excavating for a mine,
 Lived a miner, a forty-niner and his daughter Clementine
 Light she was, just like a fairy, and her age was only nine,
 She would play amidst the flowers as he toiled down in the mine
 He lost her mother to a fever, a baby brother went in kind,
 Now he seeks a promised fortune for his only Clementine
 In the evening, by her bedside he would tell her of his find
 And the promise of her future hidden deep within the mine
 They would live in San Francisco in a home so rich and fine
 And every boy in San Francisco would carry flowers to Clementine
 In the night as she lay sleeping, he would often fret and pine
 O'er the hardship they would suffer for the promise of the mine
 He could hear her softly breathing,
 and he would find some peace of mind
 As he whispered a solemn promise to his sleeping Clementine
 Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling Clementine,
 I'll forever hold you near me, don't you worry, Clementine
 When the sun broke o'er the canyon he awoke his Clementine
 And assigned her simple duties just to occu-py her time
 For the world is full of mischief for a girl who's only nine
 And he knew he couldn't be there to keep his promise to Clementine
 She took the mule down to the river just as she had been assigned
 And went in search of shiny pebbles on the banks below the mine
 It was there she lost her footing and fell into the brine
 And the promise of the canyon took the precious Clementine
 In a cavern, in a canyon, near an old abandoned mine
 Stands a miner, an old timer in a field of blooming vine
 He has planted pretty flowers all around that wretched mine
 To remind him every hour of his precious Clementine
 On a rock he breaks a shovel and he throws it down the mine
 And repeats his solemn promise to a sleeping Clementine
 Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling Clementine,
 I'll forever hold you near me, don't you worry, Clementine
 I'll forever hold you near me, don't you worry Clementine