Song

Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest;
Home-keeping hearts are happiest,
For those that wander they know not where
Are full of trouble and full of care;
    To stay at home is best. 

Weary and homesick and distressed,
They wander east, they wander west,
And are baffled and beaten and blown about
By the winds of the wilderness of doubt;
    To stay at home is best. 

Then stay at home, my heart, and rest;
The bird is safest in its nest;
O'er all that flutter their wings and fly
A hawk is hovering in the sky;
    To stay at home is best.

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) , "Song", from Kéramos and Other Poems, published 1878

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by John Francis Barnett (1837-1916) , "Stay at home", published c1878. [voice and piano]
by Arthur Henry Behrend (1853-1935) , "Stay, stay at home", published 1896. [voice and piano]
by Francesco Berger (1834-1933) , "Stay at home" [partsong for boys' or girls' voices and piano], from Two-Part Songs
by Mrs. A. Swan Brown , "Stay at home my heart and rest", published 1885. [voice and piano]
by Herbert Bunning (1863-1937) , "Home's best", published 1908. [voice and piano]
by L. Camilieri , "To stay at home is best", published 1921. [partsong: SATB a cappella]
by Adam (von Ahn) Carse (1878-1958) , "Stay, stay at home, my heart", published 1907. [voice and piano]
by A. ten. Cate , "To stay at home is best" [SSA chorus a cappella]
by Vincenzo Cirillo , "To stay at home is best", published 1878. [voice and piano]
by Louis Adolphe Coerne (1870-1922) , "Stay, stay at home, my heart", op. 28 (Ten Songs) no. 2, published 1894. [medium voice and piano]
by Sir Frederic Hymen Cowen (1852-1935) , "Stay at home", published 1892 [mezzo-soprano or tenor and piano], from Longfellow's Songs
by E. Cutter, Jr. , "Song of home", published 1891.
by S. C. Harrison , "Oh, stay at home, my heart", published 1914. [voice and piano]
by John C. Kelly , "Stay, stay at home", published 1896. [voice and piano]
by Samuel Liddle (1864?-1951) , "Home song", published 1896. [voice and piano]
by Nicolai Mednikoff , "To stay at home is best", published 1925. [high voice and piano]
by Edward H. Phelps , "To stay at home is best", published 1878. [voice and piano]
by Silas Gamaliel Pratt (1846-1916) , "Stay at home, my heart, and rest", published 1878. [voice and piano]
by James Price , "Stay at home" [voice and piano]
by Edith S. Redfield , "Stay at home", published 1910. [voice and piano]
by C. C. Schuler , "Stay at home", published 1883. [voice and piano]
by Berthold Tours (1838-1897) , "To stay at home is best" [partsong or chorus: SSA and piano]
by W. Wadsworth , "Stay at home", published 1879.
by Uda Waldrop , "Stay home my heart", published 1909. [voice and piano]
by Richard Henry Walthew (1872-1951) , "Home-Keeping Hearts", published 1912. [voice and piano]

Date added to the website: 2008-06-24.

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Sheet music:

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Books:

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