Stephen Collins Foster

(1826 - 1864) / Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

The Song of All Songs

As you've walked through the town on a fine summer's day,
The subject I've got, you have seen, I dare say;
Upon fences and railings, where ever you go,
You'll see the penny ballads sticking up, in a row;
The titles to read you may stand for a while,
And some are so odd, they will cause you to smile;
I noted them down as I read them along,
And I've put them together to make up my song.
Old songs! New songs! Ev'ry kind of song,
I noted them down as I read them along.
2
There was ' Abraham's Daughter ' ' Going out upon a spree, '
With ' Old Uncle Snow ' ' In the Cottage by the sea; '
' If your foot is pretty, show it ' ' At Lanigan's Ball; '
And ' Why did she leave him ' ' On the raging Canawl? '
There was ' Bonnie Annie ' with ' A jockey hat and feather; '
' I don't think much of you ' ' We were boys and girls together. '
' Do they think of me at home? ' ' I'll be free and easy still; '
' Give us now a good Commander ' with ' The Sword of Bunker Hill. '
3
' When this Cruel War is over, ' ' No Irish need apply, '
' For, every thing is lovely, and the Goose hangs high; '
' The Young Gal from New Jersey, ' ' Oh, wilt thou be my bride? '
And ' Oft in the Stilly Night ' ' We'll all take a ride. '
' Let me kiss him for his Mother, ' ' He's a Gay Young Gambolier; '
' I'm going to fight mit Sigel ' and ' De bully Lager-bier. '
' Hunkey Boy is Yankee Doodle ' ' When the Cannons loudly roar, '
' We are coming, Father Abraham, six hundred thousand more! '
4
' In the days when I was hard up ' with ' My Mary Ann, '
' My Johnny was a Shoemaker, ' or ' Any other Man! '
' The Captain with his whiskers ' and ' Annie of the Vale, '
Along with ' Old Bob Ridley ' ' A riding on a rail! '
' Rock me to sleep, Mother, ' ' Going round the Horn; '
' I'm not myself at all, ' ' I'm a Bachelor forlorn. '
' Mother, is the Battle over? ' ' What are the men about? '
' How are you, Horace Greeley, ' ' Does your Mother know you're out? '
5
' We won't go home till morning, ' with ' The Bold Privateer, '
' Annie Lisle ' and ' Zouave Johnny ' ' Riding in a Railroad Kerr; '
' We are coming, Sister Mary, ' with ' The Folks that put on airs. '
' We are marching along ' with ' The Four-and-Thirty Stars; '
' On the other side of Jordan ' ' Don't fly your Kite too high! '
' Jenny's coming o'er the Green, ' to ' Root Hog or die! '
' Our Union's Starry Banner, ' ' The Flag of Washington. '
Shall float victorious o'er the land from Maine to Oregon!
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