Samuel Woodworth - The Old Oaken Bucket

Woodworth is best known for the poem The Old Oaken Bucket, which has been described as one of the most beautiful works in the English Language. The first stanza reads:

How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood,

When fond recollection presents them to view!

The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild-wood,

And every loved spot which my infancy knew!

The wide-spreading pond, and the mill that stood by it,

The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell,

The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it,

And e'en the rude bucket that hung in the well-

The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,

The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well.

In 1826 the poem was set to music by George F Kiallmark (1804–1887) and has been sung by generations of American schoolchildren. It was recorded in 1899 by The Haydn Quartet, the most famous barbershop quartet of the time, and was released on Berliner Gramophone.