My Heart Is Over the Sea

DESCRIPTION: "Oh! Many a time I am sad at heard And I haven't a word to say." The girl keeps away from the men courting her, because they have no chance: "My heart is over the sea." He has been gone for two years. She and the boy's mother both wish him back
AUTHOR: Charlotte Alington Barnard ("Claribel") (1830-1869) (source: sheet music)
EARLIEST DATE: 1868 (Mabel-Waltz-Songster)
KEYWORDS: love separation sailor mother
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Mabel-Waltz-Songster, p. 54, "My Heart Is Over the Sea" (1 text)
Little-Maggie-May-Songster, p. 53, "My Heart Is Over the Sea" (1 text)
Sweet-Genevieve-Songster, p. 45, "My Heart Is Over the Sea" (1 text)
Walking-Down-Broadway-Songster, p. 49, "My Heart Is over the Sea" (1 text)
Roud #12886
NOTES [57 words]: This seems to have two common forms, "Maggie's Secret," which mentions Maggie, and "My Heart Is Over the Sea," which doesn't. Both go back at least to the 1860s, so I don't know which is earlier. Roud lumps them, but they're different enough that I split them. - RBW
For brief background on Claribel, see the notes to "Come Back to Erin." - RBW
Last updated in version 7.1
File: MWSo054

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