MY PRETTY QUADROON

Oh, who were as happy as we?
She had lips like a blossoming bee
And the light in her violet eyes
Shone on no other darky but me
Her form was exceedingly fair
She had cheeks like a wild rose in June
And the ringlets of dark glossy hair
Were the curls of my pretty Quadroon
Farewell to Kentucky's green hills
Farewell to the little coral
Where Cora and I often strayed
Farewell to Kentucky's green shade
My sorrow will soon be forgot
And my heart will find rest in her tomb
But the spirit will fly to the spot
And watch over my pretty Quadroon

Chorus:
Oh, my pretty Quadroon, my flower that faded too soon
My heart's like the strings on my banjo – all broke for my pretty Quadroon
My heart's like the strings on my banjo – all broke for my pretty Quadroon

One plunge in the dark muddy stream
One struggle and all will be o'er
My life floats away like a dream
And the voice of a driver no more
Hark! On a cool northern breeze
Comes the sound of a hue and a drum
Oh! Can it be the glad day?
The day of deliverance has come!

Source:
Old Time Songs, Compiled by Loye Pack (n.d., probably mid-1930s), p. 50.

Note the (apparent) abolitionist sentiment in the final verse. I don't know if Pack wrote those lines himself, or if he took them from an earlier text.

Roud 4965