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The Indian's Prayer

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Wikipedia article




'"The Indian's Prayer"' is a popular song with music composed by I.B. Woodbury in 1846. The 1833 original lyric, used in altered form, was published as '"The Indian's Entreaty"' in a Universalist journalThe New-York Christian Messenger and Philadelphia Universalist (Vol. 3, No. 9, Dec. 1833) by Rev. John Perry, a Pennsylvania minister. The poem was claimed to reflect the likely thoughts of a boy described as having left (or escaped) "some years ago" from "one of many colleges" to return to his native tribe.

Woodbury, a composer of religious music, dedicated the song to his friend and student L.O. Emerson, Esq.

A setting of the text (similar to Woodbury's version) appears in William Walker's Southern Harmony and Christian Harmony, under the title '"The Indian's Petition"'.

Lyrics



Rev. Perry's original poem, in 11-syllable lines:

:'Let me go to my home in the far, far west,'

:'To the scenes of my youth, which I love the best.'

:'Where cedars are green, and the bright waters flow,'

:'Where kindred will greet mewhite man let me go.'

:'I long for the spot where the cataract plays,'

:'Where I've sported so free in my infant days,'

:'And the deep forest, too, where with quiver and bow,'

:'I've chas'd the wild deerOh! there let me go.'

:'Let me go to the hills and vallies so fair,'

:'Let me breath in freedom my own mountain air;'

:'And to my poor mother whose heart will o'erflow,'

:'When she looks on her boyto her let me go.'

:'Let me go to my sire, by whose vet'ran side'

:'I have march'd to the fight in my spirits pride;'

:'With him I have conquer'd the insolent foe'

:'To that Chieftain-father, once more let me go.'

:'And oh! let me go to my dark-eyed maid;'

:'We've climbed o'er the hill-tops, repos'd in the glade,'

:'As the fawn she's gentle, her heart, pure as snow,'

:'And she loves the poor Indian—oh! let me go.'

:'Then let me away to my own forest home,'

:'And ne'er from it again, will I wish to roam'

:'Oh! there let my ashes in peace be laid low'

:'To my home in the west, white man, let me go.'

:'Disdaining their fetters, the Indians proud soul,'

:'Could not bend in submission, or brook their control'

:'But free, as the wind, with morning's first dawn,'

:'To his lov'd forest home, the red boy had gone!'

The lyrics as they appear in Woodbury's original sheet music:Woodbury, "The Indian's Prayer" (Sheet music). have been altered from the original by an unknown hand, mainly to be in 12-syllable lines rather than 11. Several undated broadsides titled "Indian Hunter" offer variants on these words.

:'Let me go to my home in the far distant west,'

:'To the scenes of my childhood in innocence blest;'

:'Where the tall cedars wave and the bright waters flow,'

:'Where my fathers repose. Let me go, let me go.'

:'Where my fathers repose. Let me go, let me go.'

:'Let me go to the spot where the cataract plays,'

:'Where oft I have sported in boyhoods bright days,'

:'And greet my poor mother, whose heart will oerflow'

:'At the sight of the child. Let me go, let me go.'

:'At the sight of the child. Let me go, let me go.'

:'Let me go to my sire, by whose battlescard side,'

:'I have sported so oft in the morn of my pride,'

:'And exulted to conquer the insolent foe,'

:'To my father, the chief, let me go, let me go.'

:'To my father, the chief, let me go, let me go.'

:'And oh! let me go to my flashing eyed maid,'

:'Who taught me to love, neath the green willows shade,'

:'Whose heart, like the fawns, leaps as pure as the snow,'

:'To the bosom it loves. Let me go, let me go.'

:'To the bosom it loves. Let me go, let me go.'

:'And oh! let me go to my wild forest home—'

:'No more from its life-cheering pleasures to roam.'

:'Neath the groves of the glen, let my ashes lie low—'

:'To my home in the woods, let me go, let me go.'

:'To my home in the woods, let me go, let me go.'

References



Bibliography



*Woodbury, I.B. (m.); Anonymous (w.). "The Indian's Prayer" (Sheet music). Boston: E.H. Wade (1846).

Category:1846 songs

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