1.

Give the stranger happy cheer.
When, o’er his cheek the teardrops start,
The balm that flows from one kind word
May heal the wound in a breaking heart.
Scorn not the grief that his breast may outpour
It may be for loved ones on some distant shore.
Refrain:
Oh! give the stranger happy cheer.
When, o’er his cheek the teardrops start,
The balm that flows from one kind word
May heal the wound in a breaking heart.

2.

Give the stranger happy cheer.
While forms familiar ’round ye stand,
Ye may not know what weight of woe
The wanderer bears in an unknown land.
Around ye no blessing more sweetly may fall
Than those which the way-wearied exile may call.
Refrain:

3.

Give the stranger happy cheer.
Where o’er ye find him, wan and weak,
'Twere little cost, ’twere nothing lost
To call a smile o’er his care-worn cheek.
Your kindness for years in his memory may rest
To gladden his footsteps and comfort his breast.
Refrain: