The dirge is swelling deep
As the lifeless forms depart;
Low moans the muffled drum,
“Farewell to each gallant heart.”

There in the car of death
Lie warriors true and brave
As e'er for land and home
Their lives an offering gave.

Thousands have gone before
Struck down by Death's red hand,
Comrades now met once more
In the blesséd spirit-land.

In the cause of truth and right
Their heart's best blood was shed;
For their country and her flag
They are numbered with the dead.

When the day of reckoning comes,
The day of joy, of doom,
When the sea gives up its dead
And the sods release from gloom,

When the towering mountains quake
And the sun is quenched in night,
And the heavens, a mighty scroll,
Retire from Nature's blight,

When the judgment book on high
Its secrets shall unfold,
Their deeds shall be writ on its pages bright
In characters of gold.