Verse 1: They stood at the altar fide by side,
In the sunshine of youth sublime,
No thought of clouds or storm and strife,
In the sweet, golden summer time;
But, alas! if the future they could have seen.
Their joy would have fled like a dream;
Dark days hov'ring o'er them,
And the story what might have been.

Chorus: Sunshine, sorrow and tears come to every one,
Be they peasant, be they king, they cannot dark days shun;
Only men and women are we, feeling sorrow keen;
We oft look back with sad regret And think what might have been.

Verse 2: One day in their lives a quarrel came,
A simple and foolish thing;
It blasted their love forevermore
Like the viper's poisonous sting;
And now in the night, when the moon shines bright,
A woman so fair is seen,
Murm'ring in her agony,
How happy we might have been.

Chorus: Sunshine, sorrow and tears come to every one,
Be they peasant, be they king, they cannot dark days shun;
Only men and women are we, feeling sorrow keen;
We oft look back with sad regret And think what might have been.