Lorena (song)

"Lorena"
Song
Written	1856
Published	1857
Composer(s)	Joseph Philbrick Webster
Lyricist(s)	Henry D. L. Webster

"Lorena" is an American antebellum song with Ohio origins. The lyrics were written in 1856 by Rev. Henry D. L. Webster, after a broken engagement. He wrote a long poem about his fiancée Ella Blocksom, but changed her name at first to "Bertha" and later to "Lorena", perhaps an adaptation of "Lenore" from Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven." Henry Webster's friend Joseph Philbrick Webster wrote the music, and the song was first published in Chicago in 1857. It became a favorite of soldiers of both sides during the American Civil War. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.^[1]