WHEN THIS CRUEL WAR IS OVER
Dearest love, do you remember
When we last did meet,
How you told me that you loved me,
Kneeling at my feet?
Oh, how proud you stood before me,
In your suit of blue,
When you vowed to me and country
Ever to be true.
Chorus—Weeping, sad and lonely,
Hopes and fears how vain;
Yet praying when this cruel war is over,
Praying that we meet again.
When the summer breeze is sighing
Mournfully along,
Or when autumn leaves are falling,
Sadly breathes the song.
Oft in dreams I see thee lying
On the battle plain,
Lonely, wounded, even dying,
Calling, but in vain.
If, amid the din of battle,
Nobly you should fall,
Far away from those who love you,
None to hear you call,
Who would whisper words of comfort?
Who would soothe your pain?
Ah, the many cruel fancies
Ever in my brain!
But our country called you, darling,
Angels cheer your way!
When our nation's sons are fighting,
We can only pray.
Nobly strike for God and country,
Let all nations see
How we love the starry banner,
Emblem of the free.
Charles Carroll Sawyer.
Page 506. Out on a crag walked something. The flag was unfurled from Pulpit Rock, on the extreme point of the mountain overlooking Chattanooga. It was from that "pulpit" that Jefferson Davis, three days before, had addressed his troops, assuring them that all was well with the Confederacy.
Page 506. The Battle in the Clouds. "The day had been one of dense mists and rains, and much of General Hooker's battle was fought above the clouds, on the top of Lookout Mountain."—General Meigs's Report.
Page 508. And the one white Fang underneath. Robert Gould Shaw was only twenty-five years of age when he was killed at the head of his regiment at Fort Wagner. He had enlisted as a private at the outbreak of the war, and soon rose to a captaincy. He was appointed colonel of the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts, the first regiment of colored troops from a free state, April 17, 1863, and went to his death with them three months later. See also "Ode on the Unveiling of the Shaw Memorial," page 603, and "An Ode in Time of Hesitation," page 646.