Willie, We Have Missed You
by Stephen Foster

Oh! Willie, is it you, dear, safe, safe at home?
They did not tell me true, dear, they said you would not come;
I heard you at the gate, and it made my heart rejoice,
For I knew that welcome footstep and that dear familiar voice.
Making music in my ear in the lonely midnight gloom.
Oh, Willie, we have missed you–welcome, welcome home.

We’ve longed to see you nightly, but this night of all,
The fire was blazing brightly, and lights were in the hall.
The little ones were up till ’twas ten o’clock and past,
Then their eyes began to twinkle, and they’re gone to sleep at last;
But they listened for your voice till they thought you’d never come,
Oh, Willie, we have missed you–welcome, welcome home.

The days were sad without you, the nights long and drear,
The dreams have been about you, oh, welcome, Willie, dear.
Last night I wept and watched, by the moonlight’s cheerless ray,
Till I thought I heard your footstep, when I wiped my tears away;
But my heart grew sad again, when I found you had not come;
Oh, Willie, we have missed you–welcome, welcome home.