William McCarty, comp. The American National Song Book. 1842.
To the Memory of Lieutenant Nathaniel Sherman
L
That falls unbidden on thy bier,
And dews the lonely urn;
Ah! but for war’s destructive power,
You still had cheer’d the social hour
Of those who now must mourn.
The face of genial day deforms,
Death’s sable curtain drew;
But had that been thy honour’d part,
Thy dauntless breast had met the dart,
First of the daring few.
Where’er a deathless name was won,
Thy gleaming sword to bare;
And where Fame opes her temple wide,
Had cheerful pour’d the crimson tide,
To grave thy memory there.
Her icy hand thy temples press’d,
And chain’d the towering mind;
And there, amid the din of war,
From home and soothing friendship far,
Thy martial soul resign’d.
Or bring to those fond souls relief,
Who kindred fetters wear!
None, none—they loved the youth too well;
Their bleeding hearts alone can tell
How deep their sorrows are.