William McCarty, comp. The American National Song Book. 1842.
Decaturs GraveWilliam Bingham Tappan (17941849)
W
Why droops Columbia’s genius so?
The laurel wreath is sere and dead;
Decatur’s gallant form is low!
Ye hoary warriors, hither bring
Your tribute to the kindred brave;
Ye beauteous maidens, haste, and fling
Your chaplets on Decatur’s grave.
The wreath that marks a godlike soul;
Let those depart, who chide the lay,
And for one error blot the scroll—
Approach! ye generous, feeling, few,
Where selfishness can ne’er intrude;
Approach—Decatur’s grave bedew;
Sweet are the tears of gratitude!
But glory shrines his deathless fame;
The tomb receives its hallow’d trust,
But unborn ages breathe his name!
Yes, mighty dead! in every breast,
Thou still shalt live, to memory dear;
This turf, by virgin footsteps prest,
Shall witness Sorrow’s dewy tear!
To deck her favourite’s early tomb;
While Charity, with aspect fair,
Will mantle thy untimely doom;
Farewell! the gem that hail’d thy morn,
Now sunk beneath the western sky,—
Will wake for thee a brighter dawn:
The star of glory ne’er can die!