by Stephen Collins Foster (1826 - 1864)
Old Black Joe
Language: English
Available translation(s): ITA
Gone are the days when my heart was young and gay, Gone are my friends from the cotton fields away, Gone from the earth to a better land I know, I hear their gentle voices calling "Old Black Joe." CHORUS I'm coming, I'm coming, for my head is bending low: I hear those gentle voices calling, "Old Black Joe." Why do I weep when my heart should feel no pain, Why do I sigh that my friends come not again, Grieving for forms now departed long ago? I hear their gentle voices calling "Old Black Joe." (CHORUS) Where are the hearts once so happy and so free? The children so dear that I held upon my knee, Gone to the shore where my soul has longed to go, I hear their gentle voices calling "Old Black Joe." (CHORUS)
Authorship:
- by Stephen Collins Foster (1826 - 1864) [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Stephen Collins Foster (1826 - 1864), "Old Black Joe", 1860. [text verified 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Antonio Zencovich) , title 1: "Vecchio negro Joe", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: T. P. (Peter) Perrin
This text was added to the website: 2011-11-10
Line count: 17
Word count: 138