Answer to Galveston Rose

I'm writing this answer to the Galveston Rose
The answer to a sad, broken heart
My whole world, it crumbled when I read your last note
Saying, that we forever must part.

Oh, I realize now you were innocent, dear
When in anger I said we were through
For as all the long years have passed slowly away
I find that I'll always love you.

There were tears on your cheeks when I bid you goodbye
And you pleaded with me not to go
These last years I have paid for the wrong I have done
To my sweetheart the Galveston Rose.

Now, they say you are resting in a lonely churchyard
Where the violets and red roses hide
And I pray when I die my request they will fill
And lay me to rest by your side.

I have longed and I've yearned for you many a time
And wished I could undo the past
And hold you again in my arms tenderly
And live with you, dear, to the last.

Now you've heard my sad answer to a flower so fair
One I loved more than anyone knows
With God's help I'll repay for the sorrow and tears
That I brought to my Galveston Rose...