Was that not the sound of wedding bells
That gently sounds from the far distance,
The while about the brown curls of a maiden
The sprig of myrtle twines greenly?
Oh green wreath -- you bridal emblem
That love's joy has chosen --
How you shine gloriously without peer,
When a heart espouses a heart!

And that which in a ceremonious hour
The heart promised, the lips vowed,
In a bond of twenty-five years
It has proven itself to be genuine and true.
And faithful in joys, faithful in anxieties,
True to life and to art:
Thus upon this morning we greet
The bridal pair anew!

For roses do not only bloom in springtime,
Summer, too, has its radiance;
And lo -- the most splendid of wreaths,
That is the silver wreath of faithfulness.
And once more through many years
May it shine for you, dear and lovely:
Until sometime upon your silver hair
Sinks down gently a wreath of gold.