"The've Sold Me Down the River" (1853)
(The Negro Father's Lament)
by George Frederick Root

1.
They've sold me down the river,
And I must parted be,
From all I love most dearly
And all who care for me;
My heart is fill'd with sorrow,
There's naught for me but woe!
They've sold me down the river,
And I alas must go.

CHORUS
Farewell my peacefull cabin
Beside the old oak tree.
Farewell my wife and children,
And all that's dear to me.

2.
My little ones are mourning,
I know 'tis for my sake.
My poor lone wife is weeping
As tho' her heart would break;
O, massa, do not grieve them
When I am far from thee,
But ever treat them kindly,
As thou hast treated me!

(CHORUS)

3.
But I will cease me mourning,
My sorrows weary bear,
For there is One above us
Who listens to our prayer;
An Eye that looks upon us
And when our toils are o'er,
He'll take us up to Heaven,
To dwell for ever more.

(CHORUS)