Foster's Melodies, No. 25
"Willie We Have Missed You" (1854)
Poetry and Music by
Stephen Collins Foster, 1826-1864

1.
Oh! Willie is it you, dear,
Safe, safe at home?
They did not tell me true, dear;
They said you would not come.
I heard you at the gate,
And it made my heart rejoice;
For I knew that welcome footstep
And that dear, familiar voice,
Making music on my ear
In the lonely midnight gloom:
Oh! Willie, we have missed you;
Welcome, welcome home!

2.
We've longed to see you nightly,
But this night of all;
The fire was blazing brightly
And lights were in the hall.
The little ones were up
Till 'twas ten o'clock and past,
Then their eyes began to twinkle,
And they've gone to sleep at last;
But they listened for your voice
Till they thought you'd never come;
Oh! Willie, we have missed you;
Welcome, welcome home!

3.
The days were sad without you,
The nights long and drear;
My dreams have been about you;
Oh! welcome, Willie dear!
Last night I wept and watched
By the moonlights cheerless ray;
Till I thought I heard your footstep,
Then I wiped my tears away;
But my heart grew sad again
When I found you had not come;
Oh! Willie, we have missed you;
Welcome, welcome home!