Ives set this poem by Aasmund Olavsson Vinje (1818 - 1870), a Norwegian poet, twice. The first version of it (Kz 22 in John Kirkpatrick's catalog of Ives' music) is the work of 1894, and set it in English translation by Corder.

This is a setting of the German version of Vinje's poem, with a different translation attributed to Corder also printed in the score.

The text is a praise to Mother, who, though poor and hard-working, always had time to comfort her son and to teach him to have strength, and a pledge of lifelong devotion to her.

Ives continued to work as a church organist and write commercially viable songs until 1902, when he was passed over by his old teacher Horatio Parker for a position on the Yale University music faculty.

The nature of the text accurately predicts the style of the song: It is very conventional, sentimental, and late-Victorian in its language and gestures. Modern listeners are apt to find it cloying.

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