A nostalgic poem set to the tune of Araby’s Daughter, 1850.
words by Samuel Woodworth
music by George Kiallmark
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood
When fond recollection presents them to view
The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wildwood
And ev’ry lov’d spot which my infancy knew
The wide spreading stream, the mill that stood near it
The bridge and the rock where the cataract fell
The cot of my father, the dairy house by it
And e’en the rude bucket that hung in the well - That moss covered bucket I hail as a treasure
For often at noon, when return’d from the field
I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure
The purest and sweetest that nature can yield
How ardent I seized it with hands that were glowing
And quick to the white pebbled bottom it fell
Then soon with the emblem of health overflowing
And dripping with coolness it rose from the well - How sweet from the green mossy rim to receive it
As pois’d on the curb it reclin’d to my lips
Not a full flowing goblet could tempt me to leave it
Tho’ fill’d with the nectar that Jupiter sips
And now far removed from the loved situation
The tear of regret will intrusively swell
As fancy reverts to my father’s plantation
And sighs for the bucket that hung in the well
Sung here by Fred Feild: