What will the birds do mother in the spring   When they stop to gather crumbs around the door   Will they fly from the trees half as nice with glee   Asking why Joe wanders out no more      What will the kitten do mother all alone   Will he stop from his frolick for the day   Will he lie on his rug by the side of my bed   As he did before I went away      What will Thomas that old gardener say   When you ask him for flowers for me   Will he give you a rose he has tended with care   The first fairest bloom of the tree   [ clarinet - guitar ]   I have seen the tears in his honest old eyes   But he said it was the wind that brought them there   As he gazed on my cheeks growing paler each day   And his hand went trembling through my hair      Keep tied mother my poor little dog   For I know he'll mourn for me too   Just keep him when old and useless he grows   Sleeping the whole summer through      Show him my coat mother so he'll not forget   His master who then will be dead   Just speak to him kindly and often of Joe   And pat him on his brown shaggy head      And you dearest mother may miss me for a while   But in heaven I'll no larger grow   And any kind angel will know at the gate   When you ask for your darling little Joe