These are the hills, unshaken and sublime!<br>These are the grottoes and the cosy bowers<br>The years rolled by, the days, the hours -<br>My hair grew white - O, Father Time!<br><br>I plucked for you some fairy flowers!<br>And what I felt - I sing in rhyme!<br>But still the deepest of the showers<br>Resounds in Texas hist'ry chime!<br><br>What can be dearer to the heart?<br>What ties are binding more serene?<br>What love is sweeter to impart?<br>What love is keeping evergreen?