Open Thy Lattice Love (song)

"Open Thy Lattice Love"
"Open Thy Lattice Love"
Song
Written	February 1, 1844
Genre	Vocal quartet
Songwriter(s)	Stephen Foster

Open Thy Lattice Love was a song composed by Stephen Foster on February 1, 1844, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Susan E. Robinson was the last remaining member of the quartet that performed the song and the person who the song was written for. She died at age 85 on December 31, 1916.^[1] Other sources give a different date of publication.^[2] The song is mentioned in Chapter IX of MacKinlay Kantor's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "Andersonville" (1955).

Lyrics

Open thy lattice, love listen to me!
The cool balmy breeze is abroad on the sea!
The moon like a queen, roams her realms of blue,
And the stars keep their vigils in heaven for you
Ere morn's gushing light tips the bills with its ray,
Away o'er the waters away and away!
Then open thy lattice, love listen to me!
While the moon's in the sky and the breeze on the sea!

Open thy lattice, love listen to me!
In the voyage of life, love our pilot will be!
He will sit at the helm wherever we rove,
And steer by the load-star he kindled above
His shell for a shallop will cut the bright spray,
Or skim like a bird o'er the waters away;
Then open thy lattice, love listen to me!
While the moon's in the sky and the breeze on the sea!^[3]^[4]

References

^ Barcousky, Len (14 February 2016). "Eyewitness 1916: Living link to Foster passes on". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
^ "Stephen C. Foster". 1897 The Musical Visitor, a Magazine of Musical Literature and Music (1883-1897), 08, 223. Accessed May 21, 2016. Access provided by the University of Pittsburgh
^ "Open Thy Lattice Love". Retrieved 2016-04-30.
^ "Hampsong Foundation » Stephen Foster: Song Texts and Translations". Archived from the original on 2016-06-03. Retrieved 2016-04-30.

[Barcousky2016-1] Barcousky, Len (14 February 2016). "Eyewitness 1916: Living link to Foster passes on". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Retrieved 27 April 2016.

[2] "Stephen C. Foster". 1897 The Musical Visitor, a Magazine of Musical Literature and Music (1883-1897), 08, 223. Accessed May 21, 2016. Access provided by the University of Pittsburgh

[3] "Open Thy Lattice Love". Retrieved 2016-04-30.

[4] "Hampsong Foundation » Stephen Foster: Song Texts and Translations". Archived from the original on 2016-06-03. Retrieved 2016-04-30.

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v t e Stephen Foster
List of songs
Songs	Minstrel songs Angelina Baker (1850) Camptown Races (1850) The Glendy Burk (1860) My Old Kentucky Home (1853) Oh! Susanna (1848) Ring, Ring de Banjo (1851) Old Folks at Home (Swanee River) (1851) Massa's in De Cold Ground (1852) Parlor songs Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway Open Thy Lattice Love Beautiful Dreamer (1864) Hard Times Come Again No More (1854) Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (1854) Old Black Joe (1853) Willie Has Gone to War (1862)
History and biographers	The Stephen Foster Collection and archive Morrison Foster Horace Waters Harold Vincent Milligan Henrietta Crosman Evelyn Foster Morneweck
Films, musicals, recordings	Films Harmony Lane I Dream of Jeanie Swanee River Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (anime) Musicals Stephen Foster - The Musical Hard Times Recordings Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster
State Parks	My Old Kentucky Home State Park Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park Stephen C. Foster State Park
Family	Jane Foster Wiley (wife) Marion Foster Welch (daughter) William Foster (father) Eliza Foster (mother) Morrison Foster (brother)
Related	Stephen Foster Handicap Stephen Foster Memorial Stephen Foster Memorial Day Stephen Foster (sculpture) Cincinnati Musical Center half dollar