The Southerner's Departure

The Southerner’s Departure.

When the bright sunny South was in peace and content,
The years of my boyhood were carelessly spent,
And the broad spreading plains and the deep flowing streams
That were dear to my memory and seen in my dreams.
Chorus:—And it’s home, boys, home, and it’s home we ought to be.
Chorus:—Home, boys, home in our own country;
Chorus:—Where the sugar and the cotton and the old orange tree,
Chorus:—They are all growing green in the Southern country.

The days of my boyhood have glided away,
While those of my manhood have bloomed into day;
And now the Yankees my freedom deny,
I for one will repulse them or fight till I die.
Chorus:—And it’s home, boys, home, &c.

I left the refinements and comforts of life,
Through dangers of bloodshed, privations of life
I have counted the cost, I have plighted my word,
I have shouldered my musket and belted my sword.
Chorus:—And it’s home, boys, home, &c.

My father looked sad, though he bade me depart,
And my mother embraced me in anguish of heart;
And my beautiful sisters looked pale in their woe,
Though they kissed me and blessed me and told me to go.
Chorus:—And it’s home, boys, home, &c.

I have left a fair maiden, my heart’s polar star—
More beautiful than others, more precious by far;
Though she wept when we parted, I asked not to stay,
But I gave her my hand, then I hastened away.
Chorus:—And it’s home, boys, home, &c.

Oh! father, dear father, for me do not weep,
For in some rugged mountain I ever may sleep;
Of the dangers of war I am fully aware,
And for sickness and death I will try to prepare.
Chorus:—And it’s home, boys, home, &c.

Oh! mother, dear mother, for me do not weep,
Your kind good advice I forever shall keep;
You taught me to be brave from a boy to a man,
And I am going to fight for my own native land.
Chorus:—And it’s home, boys, home, &c.

Oh! sister, dear sister, for me do not weep,
Your tears and sorrow pierce my heart deep;
Oh! now I must go, for here I cannot stand,
I am going in defence of my own native land.
Chorus:—And it’s home, boys, home, &c.

From my sister and my parents I once had to part,
Though my dearest loved one was dearest to my heart;
Oh! I never can forget when I took her by the hand,
When I started in defence of my own native land.
Chorus:—And it’s home, boys, home, &c.

The time will soon come—oh! how long will it be?—
When from Yankee invaders our country will be free,
The war will be over and the fighting will be done,
Then how happy the meeting with loved ones at home.
Chorus:—And it’s home, boys, home, &c.