Respectfully inscribed to 
Miss Mary E. South, Terre Haute, Indiana.
"On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" (1897)
Song and Chorus.
Words and Music
by Paul Dresser [Dreiser], 1858-1906

1.
'Round my Indiana homestead wave the cornfields,
In the distance loom the woodlands clear and cool,
Often times my tho'ts revert to scenes of childhood,
Where I first received my lessons-Nature's school,
But one thing there is missing in the picture,
With out her face it seems so incomplete,
I long to see my mother in the doorway,
As she stood there years ago, her boy to greet,

CHORUS
Oh, the moonlight's fair tonight along the Wabash,
From the fields there comes the breath of new-mown hay,
Through the sycamores the candle lights are gleaming,
On the banks of the Wabash, far away.

2.
Many years have passed since I strolled by the river,
Arm in arm, with sweetheart Mary by my side, there
I tried to tell her that I loved her,
It was there I begged of her to be my bride,
Long years have passed since I strolled thro' the churchyard,
She's sleeping there my angel Mary dear,
I loved her but she thought I didn't mean it,
Still I'd give my future were she only here.

(CHORUS)

[Source: pages 230-234 of
"Favorite Songs of the Nineties:
Complete Original Sheet Music for 89 Songs"
Editied by Robert A. Fremont, with an
Introduction by Max Morath,
New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1973]