I Wish He Were Here To-night - song lyrics 
American Old-time song lyrics from www.traditionalmusic.co.uk 
I Wish He Were Here To-Night. Copyright, 1890, by Geo. M. Klenk & Co. Words by Julian Holmes. Music by Henry F. Smith. 
A father and son had a quarrel one day, And the father in rage struck the son. The mother, courageously shielding her boy, Blamed the father for what he had done. The spirited boy hastened out of the house. And in anger from home ran away. His sorrowing mother, lamenting him, said, As she thought of her boy night and day: 
Chorus. "My bonny boy is away from his home, I know that he's battling for right; I'd give all the world to see him again, I wish he were here to-night." 
The father repented the act he had done, For his boy then he sought far And near. The heart-broken mother was mourning at home For the one that was always her cheer; For no one could call her "Dear mother" again, And be ever found close by her side. She wept for her boy with a true mother's grief, As she oft in her loneliness cried:-Chorus. 
For off, in a land that is over the sea, There's a boy struggling hard for his life. He misses the fond mother's voice that would aid And encourage him on in his strife. But now he is wand'ring unloved and unknown, For his fondly loved mother is dead. But with her last breath she was praying for him, And these were the last words that she said:-Chorus.