19th-century Songwriter Quotes

Stephen Foster

Joe Hill

Adelaide Anne Procter

Gustave Nadaud

George Frederick Root

Alfred Perceval Graves

Bert Kalmar

His eye is on the sparrow And I know He watches me.

Civilla D. Martin

Oh, Sussex, Sussex by the sea!
Good old Sussex by the Sea!
You may tell them all that we stand or fall
For Sussex by the sea!

William Ward-Higgs

While you've a lucifer to light your fag,
Smile, boys, that's the style.
What's the use of worrying?
It never was worth while, so
Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag,
And smile, smile, smile.

George Henry Powell

Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
'Onward,' the sailors cry;
Carry the lad that's born to be king,
Over the sea to Skye.

Sir Harold Boulton, 2nd Baronet

Thy pardon, Father, I beseech,
In this my prayer if I offend;
One something sees beyond his reach
From childhood to his journey's end.
My wife, our little boy Aignan,
Have travelled even to Narbonne;
My grandchild has seen Perpignan;
And I — have not seen Carcassonne.

Good-bye-ee!—Good-bye-ee!
Wipe the tear, baby dear, from your eye-ee.
Tho' it's hard to part, I know,
I'll be tickled to death to go.
Don't cry-ee—don't sigh-ee!
There's a silver lining in the sky-ee!
Bonsoir, old thing! cheerio! chin-chin!
Nahpoo! Toodle-oo! Good-bye-ee!

Her beauty was sold
For an old man's gold,
She's a bird in a gilded cage.

If you were the only girl in the world
And I were the only boy.

Any old place I can hang my hat is home sweet home to me.

See the wild birds on the wing,
Hear the bells that sweetly ring,
When you feel like singin', sing--
Keep a-goin'!

Frank L. Stanton

There's nothing surer,
The rich get rich and the poor get poorer,
In the meantime, in between time,
Ain't we got fun.

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free, 'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, 'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

Joseph Brackett

Listen to the mockingbird, listen to the mockingbird, Still singing where the weeping willows wave.

Septimus Winner

There's a long, long trail a-winding Into the land of my dreams, Where the nightingales are singing And a white moon beams.

We're in the army now,
We're not behind a plow;
We'll never get rich A-diggin' a ditch,
We're in the army now.

Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do!
I'm half crazy, all for the love of you!
It won't be a stylish marriage,
I can't afford a carriage,
But you'll look sweet upon the seat
Of a bicycle built for two!

Australia's sons, let us rejoice,
For we are young and free,
We've golden soil and wealth for toil,
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in nature's gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In hist'ry's page, let ev'ry stage
Advance Australia Fair,
In joyful strains then let us sing
Advance Australia fair.

Peter Dodds McCormick

The dark in soul see in the universe their own shadow; the shattered spirit can only reflect external beauty in form as untrue and broken as itself.

It's mighty strange without a doubt, nobody knows you when you're down and out.

Trottin' to the fair,
Me and Moll Maloney,
Seated, I declare
On a single pony.

Alfred Perceval Graves

Fight fire with fire. If you must have bores, always put them together or at the same table... bores have an effervescent chemical reaction on one another at a party. They invariably have a marvelous time trading banalities in the absence of competition. Clichés roll trippingly off the tongue like sparkling epigrams and trite observations acquire depth sinking into receptive minds.

Do not look at life's long sorrow; see how small each moment's pain.

Adelaide Anne Procter

Chicolini here may talk like an idiot, and look like an idiot, but don't let that fool you: he really is an idiot.

Her sanity was a fragile thing, a butterfly cupped in her hands, that she carried with her everywhere, afraid of what would happen if she let it go-or got careless and crushed it.

In Dixie's land, we'll took our stand,
To lib an' die in Dixie!