Digital Tradition Mirror

Willie, We Have Missed You

Willie, We Have Missed You
(Stephen Collins Foster)

Oh! Willie, is it you, dear,
Safe, safe at home?
They did not tell me true, dear;
They said you would not come.
I heard you at the gate,
And it made my heart rejoice;
For I knew that welcome footstep
And that dear, familiar voice,
Making music on my ear
In the lonely midnight gloom:
Oh! Willie, we have missed you;
Welcome, welcome home!
                    We've longed to see you nightly,
                    But this night of all;
                    The fire was blazing brightly
                    And lights were in the hall.
                    The little ones were up
                    Till 'twas ten o'-clock and past,
                    Then their eyes began to twinkle,
                    And they've gone to sleep at last;
                    But they listened for your voice
                    Till they thought you'd never come;
                    Oh! Willie, we have missed you;
                    Welcome, welcome home!


The days were sad without you,
The nights long and drear;
My dreams have been about you;
Oh! welcome, Willie dear!
Last night I wept and watched
By the moonlight's cheerless ray,
Till I thought I heard your footstep,
Then I wiped my tears away;
But my heart grew sad again
When I found you had not come;
Oh! Willie, we have missed you;
Welcome, welcome home!

S. C. Foster, publ. 4. March 1854
RG
APR99

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!

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