"Bright College Years" is one of the traditional songs of Yale University, a prestigious university located in Connecticut, United States. It is the university's unofficial but undisputed alma mater. It was written in 1881 by Henry Durand and set to the tune of German anthem "Die Wacht am Rhein".
Lyrics[]
Bright College years, with pleasure rife,
The shortest, gladdest years of life;
How swiftly are ye gliding by!
Oh, why doth time so quickly fly?
The seasons come, the seasons go,
The earth is green or white with snow,
But time and change shall naught avail
To break the friendships formed at Yale.
In after years, should troubles rise
To cloud the blue of sunny skies,
How bright will seem, through mem’ry’s haze
Those happy, golden, bygone days!
Oh, let us strive that ever we
May let these words our watch-cry be,
Where’er upon life’s sea we sail:
“For God, for Country and for Yale!”
—H. S. Durand, 1881