Convict and the Rose

Within my prison cell so dreary
Alone I sit with aching heart
I'm thinking of my lonely darling
From her forever I must part

A rose she sent me as a token
She sent it just to light my gloom
To tell me that her heart is broken
To cheer me 'fore I meet my doom

She wrote "I took it from the garden"
Where once we wandered side by side
But now you hold no hope of pardon
And I can never be your bride

The judge would not believe my story
The jury said I had to pay
But to the rose in all its glory
”Not guilty"'s all that I can say

Goodbye sweetheart, for in the morning
I'll meet my Maker in repose
And when I go at daylight's dawning
Against my heart they'll find this rose