"The Little Ballad Girl" (1860)
Written and composed expressly for Clark's School Visitor
by Stephen Collins Foster, 1826-1864

1.
Ho! Little girl, so dressed with care!
With fairy slippers and golden hair!
What did I hear you callin' so loud,
Down in the heartless, motley crowd?

[REFRAIN]
  'Tis my father's song,
  And he can't live long;
Every one knows that he wrote it;
  For I've been down at the hotel door,
And all the gentlemen bought it.

2.
Ho! little girl, let me light my cigar!
Where are you going tonight so far?
What are you hiding under your arms?
If I burn a sheet, will it do any harm?

(REFRAIN)

3.
Ho! little girl, what makes you cry?
Come, dry up the tears in that bright blue eye!
What is all this that is blowing around,
All soiled and scattered and strewn on the ground?

(REFRAIN)