My Son, The Drummer Boy

My son, the drummer boy,

Barely thirteen, will march off

To this civil war.

I hope and pray

I will see him again on earth

Before I see him in heaven.

His father is dead.

His brothers are lost.

There will be no man of the house left.

His sisters and I fear for his life.

The enemy cares not if

They cause me another reason to grieve.

I told my son, the drummer boy,

That the most important thing of all

To remember is, to keep your mother's

And sisters' love in your heart.