J.E. Carpenter 1864
W.T. Wrighton
Jeff Warner wrote in 2001: “My parents Frank and Anne Warner got this song from Eleazar Tillett (1875-1968) in 1951. The Tilletts, a fishing family, lived in Wanchese, North Carolina, on the Outer Banks. The song was composed in circa 1864 and went into oral tradition.”
Countercurrent: https://countercurrentmusic.bandcamp.com/track/her-bright-smile-skating-on-the-harborfront
https://countercurrentmusic.bandcamp.com/track/her-bright-smile-skating-on-the-harborfront
It’s been a year since last we met, We may never meet again. I have struggled to forget But the struggle was in vain. For her voice lives on the breeze, And her spirit comes at will, ? In the midnight on the seas Her bright smile haunts me still. ? I have sailed ‘neath alien skies, And I’ve trod the desert path, I have seen the storm arise Like a giant in his wrath. Every danger I have known That a reckless life can fill, ? No, her presence is not flown, Her bright smile haunts me still. ? At the first sweet dawn of light, When I gaze upon the deep, Her form still greets my sight While the stars their vigil keep. When I close my aching eyes Sweet dreams my memory fill, ? And from sleep when I arise Her bright smile haunts me still. ?