And now the last good-bye is said—
Good-bye! the living and the dead
In those sad words together speak,
And all the chosen ways are bleak!
Good-bye! the living and the dead
In those sad words together speak,
And all the chosen ways are bleak!
Forward! The cracking lashes send
A thrill of action down the train,
Their brawny necks the oxen bend
With creaking yoke and clanking chain;
The horsemen gallop down the line,
And swerve around the lowing kine
That straggle loosely on the plain,
And lift glad hands to babes that laugh,
And dash the buttercups like chaff.
Hurrah! the skies are jewel blue;
In softest green and braided gold
The robes of April are unrolled,
And hopes are high and hearts are true!
Hurrah! Hurrah! The bold, the free!
The sudden sweep of ecstasy
That lifts the soul on wings of fire
When fears consume and doubts expire
And life in one swift torrent speeds
To the great tide of stirring deeds.
A thrill of action down the train,
Their brawny necks the oxen bend
With creaking yoke and clanking chain;
The horsemen gallop down the line,
And swerve around the lowing kine
That straggle loosely on the plain,
And lift glad hands to babes that laugh,
And dash the buttercups like chaff.
Hurrah! the skies are jewel blue;
In softest green and braided gold
The robes of April are unrolled,
And hopes are high and hearts are true!
Hurrah! Hurrah! The bold, the free!
The sudden sweep of ecstasy
That lifts the soul on wings of fire
When fears consume and doubts expire
And life in one swift torrent speeds
To the great tide of stirring deeds.
And now the sun is dropping down,
The lights and shadows, red and brown,
Are weaving sunset's purple spell:
The teams are freed, the fires are made,
Like scarlet night-flow'rs in the shade,
And pleasant groups before, between,
The lights and shadows, red and brown,
Are weaving sunset's purple spell:
The teams are freed, the fires are made,
Like scarlet night-flow'rs in the shade,
And pleasant groups before, between,
