To Mrs. Harry Woods.
"Farewell! Old Cottage" (1851)
Written and Composed by
Stephen Collins Foster, 1826-1864

1.
Farewell! old cottage,
You and I must part:
I leave your faithful shelter
With a poor breaking heart.
The stranger, in his might,
Hath cast our lot in twain;
The term of our delight
Must close in parting pain.
Farewell! old cottage --
Farewell! old cottage,
You and I must part:
I leave your faithfull shelter
With a poor breaking heart.

2.
Farewell! old cottage,
Memory still inthralls
The loved ones of my childhood
In your time-beaten walls.
Here my brother played
In pride of health and youth,
Here my sister prayed
In purity and truth.
Farewell! old cottage.
Farewell! old cottage,
You and I must part:
I leave your faithfull shelter
With a poor breaking heart.

3.
Farewell! old cottage,
Oft time from afar
Yon window light hath served me
As a loved guiding star,
And cheered a heart that longed
To join the household mirth
Where happy faces thronged
A hospitable hearth.
Farewell! old cottage.
Farewell! old cottage,
You and I must part:
I leave your faithfull shelter
With a poor breaking heart.