"There's a Light at the Window for Me" (1861)
Song & Chorus
Words by
Luke Collin
Music by
J[oseph]. P[hilbrick]. Webster [1819-1875]

Chicago, IL: Lyon & Healy, Clark & Washington Street
Plate No. 151
[Source: am1282@Mills]

1. The sun has gone down in the west,
  And night is infolding the earth;
The winter wind’s weary unrest
  Is heard at my own cottage hearth;
The fast falling snow fills the air,
  And shrouds with false ermine each tree;
And darkness— but why should I care!
  There’s a light at the window for me!

CHORUS [sung after each VERSE]
There’s a light at the window for me,
There’s a light at the window for me.
There gleams like a bright burning star
A light at the window for me.

2. Oft times with some wearysome toil
  I am kept at the shop very late;
But when from the task I’d recoil
  I think of the loved ones who wait;
Of the dear ones who linger at home
  Of the love that is deep as the sea,
Of the hearts that will throb when I come,
  And the light at the window for me.

3. And if, as will happen to men
  Whose friendships are many and dear,
We form a charmed ring now and then
  And blow a cloud over one beer;—
Of Pleasure take hold of the reins
  And drive where the short hours be,
No matter— affection retains
  That light at the window for me.

4. What matter, then, tho’ the dark pall
  Of night stretch from earth unto sky;
What tho’ the rude tempest may brawl
  In my ear as it goes rushing by?
I heed not the night nor the storm,
  For afar through the gloom I can see
A glowing hearth, welcome as warm,
  And a light at the window for me.

5. So I cannot go very far wrong
  Tho’ wayward my steps may incline;
I may linger entranced with a song,
  Or tarry, sometimes, at the wine;
But still, whether near or afar—
  Whether early or late I may be—
There gleams like a bright burning star
  A light at the window for me.