Skip to content

Stephen Foster Quotes

1826–1864 United States

Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826 – January 13, 1864), known as the "father of American music", was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century. His songs, such as Oh!

United States
Composers
Musicians
Songwriters

Also known as: Foster, Stephen, Stephen Collins Foster

Random Stephen Foster quote

10 quotes

All the world is sad and dreary,
Everywhere I roam.

I jumped aboard de telegraph,
And trabbled down de riber,
De lectric fluid magnified,
And killed five hundred nigger.

Oh! Susanna (1848)

Oh, Susanna, don't you cry for me
For I come from Alabama,
With my banjo on my knee.

Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee;
Sounds of the rude world heard in the day,
Lull'd by the moonlight have all pass'd away.

The day goes by like a shadow o’er the heart,
With sorrow where all was delight;
The time has come when the darkies have to part:
Then my old Kentucky home, good night!

Gwine to run all night!
Gwine to run all day!
I'll bet my money on de bob-tail nag,
Somebody bet on de bay.

Sadly I roam,
Still longing for de old plantation,
And for de old folks at home.

Gone are the days when my heart was young and gay,
Gone are my friends from the cotton fields away,
Gone from the earth to a better land I know,
I hear their gentle voices calling "Old Black Joe."

All up and down the whole creation,
Sadly I roam,
Still longing for the old plantation,
And for the old folks at home.

The head must bow, and the back will have to bend,
Wherever the darkey may go;
A few more days, and the trouble all will end,
In the field where the sugar-canes grow.
A few more days for to tote the weary load,—
No matter, 't will never be light;
A few more days till we totter on the road:—
Then my old Kentucky home, good-night!

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Stephen Foster (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.