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LIFE LET US CHERISH

Then he took his fiddle out of its box. He played for a long time in the twilight, while Laura and Mary sat close to him and Ma rocked Carrie nearby... - He played 'The Campbells Are Coming, Hurrah! Hurrah!' Then he played 'Life Let Us Cherish.' And he put away the fiddle ... -- On the Banks of Plum Creek, Chapter 26, "Grasshopper Eggs"

"Life Let Us Cherish" was originally a song entitled "Freut Euch des Lebens," written in 1796 by Swiss poet Johann Martin Usteri and composer Hans Georg Nageli. It became immensely popular in America as "Life Let Us Cherish."

Johann Martin Usteri (1763-1827) was born in Zurich and died in Rapperwil. It is unclear whether he was responsible for the entire composition or just the first verse. Usteri was one of the first Swiss poets to write in his native dialect. Hans Georg Nageli (1773-1836) was a Swiss composer and music critic who was a champion of Swiss folk songs.

In the existing manuscript for On the Banks of Plum Creek, Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote that the last song Pa played before leaving to find work in the harvest fields was one she didn't know. "What is that, Pa?" she asked. “That is 'Life Let Us Cherish',” Pa told her. “Take care of the old fiddle, Caroline. It puts heart in a man,” he said.

LIFE LET US CHERISH

1. Life let us cherish while yet the taper glows,

And the fresh flower pluck ere it close;

Why are ye fond of toil and care,

Why choose the rankling thorn to wear,

And heedless by the lily stray,

Which blossoms in our way.

2. When clouds obscure the atmosphere,

And fork'd lightnings rend the air,

The sun resumes his silvery crest,

And smiles adorn the west.

And heedless by the lily stray,

Which blossoms in our way.

3. The genial season soon is o'er,

Then let us quit the shore,

Contentment's cell it is life's rest,

The sunshine of the breast.

And heedless by the lily stray,

Which blossoms in our way.

4. Away with every toil and care

And cease the rankling thorn to wear,

With manful heart the conflict meet,

Till death sounds his retreat.

And heedless by the lily stray,

Which blossoms in our way.

Use the navigation bar above to listen to "Life Let Us Cherish." If you do not see the midi player above, click HERE to listen.

Click on the above images to view a copy of period sheet music of "Life Let Us Cherish."

This music is archived in the Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music, part of Special Collections at the Milton S. Eisenhower Library of The Johns Hopkins University. The collection contains over 29,000 pieces of music and focuses on popular American music from 1780-1960.

For more information:

For a complete list of songs from the "Little House"® books, go to the SONG INDEX.

"Life Let Us Cherish" is included in The Laura Ingalls Wilder Songbook, compiled and edited by Eugenia Garson, 1968. A copy of music for "Life Let Us Cherish" was included in Songs of the Prairie, compiled by Margaret Irwin, 1968. Published in De Smet, this book is now out of print.

Life Let Us Cherish (BPC 26)