Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1886-05-28
selerf Rea1ing.
SAD STORY OF \ song.
HOW "LORENA s. SELF -WILLED SISTER
WRECKED THE HAPPINESS OF
BOTH MAID AND MAN.



IORENA.
/ The years creep SLOWLY by, Loreis,
The snow is on tue grass again,
The sun is low down the sky, Lotens,
( The frost CLEANS where the flower. have been,
But the heart heats On a warmly now
As when the summer DAYS we're nigh,
/ y The sun can never dip So low.
Adown affections cloudiess sky.
hundred months have passed Lorena,
Since last held that hand 10 mine,
And felt that pulse beat fast, Lorena,
Tho mine teat faster far than thile.
hundred months twas fUwerI NAY.
when ap he billy sops -e c!Imted,
To watch h, d. ing o. the day
Aud hear tie distant church tel's chime
We loved each other then. Lor-na
More than We ever dared 10 tell
And Whist wo might have been. Leren2,
Had tut our !oviugs prospersi we'll
But those daysnre passed those years are gene,
III not call up their sh ,dowy form,
III say to them lost v-,rs sleep on,
Ssesp Gu 10. Iced .Ifs's pel.in. storm.
The story Of ;h- past i.ofcna,
| Alas care NJ, 10 repeat,
Tbs hopes could not Isst, I.,r.ea,
They .isFd but Only isrr,i to Seat
Bgt u not cause cen one Tsyrtt
To wFaaA.t in thy ooson nov,
Fer ii W. try We may forget
Were wOTGs OF thine long years sg1.
YES these words ui thine, LorsGa.
They turn within N, memory yet,
T0ey touch soas teudeg chords. LoreEa,
Which th.iI ana tremble with regret,
/ Twas not thy Woman's heart that SPOKE,
That heart was always true 10 me,
\ duty stern @nh pressing broke,
The tie which linked ms soul with thee
II matters ltitls new, TarsrA
The past is - The "Eisrual Past,
buT heAas Will soon lt- low, LpTsna,
Life. tide is eobing uui so last
Thee Is future Ca thsnk God
CD life this "a so small part.
| Tis "dasi 10 sgs.' beneath The sod
Bat tbefs up there a. heart 10 heart
About the year 1858 there appeared
in the musical cities in the West a
song which for twelve long years had
a run rarely attained ~ popular mel
odies. The music had a peculiar
charm, the words were singularly
touching, anu their length. extending
10 SIX long verses. suggested tn the
reader story back Of them. In fact,
the extreme pathos OF the words con
tributed as much. psrhaps. as the mu.
sic 10 give the composition its wonder.
-Falsuccess- Il aas sung eyerya here,
IN parlors. in concerts, on the streets,
and la the campo OF the contsudIug
armies. In the Northern army II
Was Immensely popular. and found its
way South throush Louisville and
Cincinnati. and during the rebellion
It was the ouly piece sung in Southern
homes. aud. excepting martial airs
about tie only ore sung IN the Con
federatc camp. Everywhere Was
''I.orena.' \ steamer ON the Ohio
WIS named L9reH9, engines on West
ern roads were called l.orena. and one
now sometimes meets IN society young
ladies named l.oreha. called that by
mothers twenty years ago. That the
,ong had u story, nearly everyone ia
mlliar with it supposed, aud supposed
correctly. and II may not be uninrer-
estins at this late day To give admirers
Of the famous melody the facts III the
love affair.
The author Of the words was Rev
IL. ID. |. We s'sr. He studied in the
Columbia Academies and Collegiate
Institute, and was editor Of the Col
lege paper. In the year 1913, being
then II years OF age, aud full of poe
try and romance, he was enjoying his
first pastorate IN Ianesvl!le, Ohio.
Ills leadIrg parlshlauer was wealthy
mauutactuTer, vi hose residence was mp
on one OF the mauy hills which sur.
roanded that smoky town. The house
was about half mile out, and the
.emlnence upon which 1t was seated
was the one referred to in the song:
Twas dowery May,
When up the billy slope We climbed.
To watch the dying OF the day,
And hear the distant, church bells chime.
There lived in this family Younger
sister of his wife. who was the leading
singer IN the choir. She was l9 years
of age, small of stature, had blue eyes
and light brown hair, and was as fair
as II lllv. She was not only a sweet
singer, but she was full of puetry and
romance AS her pastor, and they soon
became very much attached. Their
loving did not, however, "prosper
we'll. for the family were proud aud
aristocratic, and "had higher notions
Of the girls future than to sanction
her MARRIAGE with A moor prpsrhpr'
As she was dependent upon them for
II home, she was forced to yield to
their counsel, and they were obliged
to give each other up 1t was, how
ever, the strong will and proud spirit
of the sister more than the opposition
of the brother-in-law that separated
them, or rather that kept Lorena from
him. Lorena seems to have been pas
Slve, indecsive in character, and sub
mssiye in the hands of her strong
wiled sister. Mr.. Webster saw her
for the last time at her home learned