William McCarty, comp. The American National Song Book. 1842.
Lexington OdeJohn Pierpont (17851866)
L
Bones of the true and brave,
Have ye reposed!
This day our hands have dress’d,
This day our prayers have bless’d
A chamber for your rest;
And now ’tis closed.
Your spirit, in your sons,
Shall guard your dust,
While winter comes in gloom,
While spring returns with bloom,
Nay! till this honour’d tomb
Gives up its trust.
These men stood forth to guard
Thy house, O God!
And now, thy house shall keep
Its vigils where they sleep,
And still its shadow sweep
O’er their green sod.
And morning finds their bed
With tears all wet:
Tears that thy hosts of light,
Rising in order bright,
To watch their tomb all night,
Shed for them yet.
For “they shall not awake,
Nor yet be raised
Out of their sleep,” before
Thy heavens, now arching o’er
Their couch, shall be no more.
Thy name be praised.