 | War poets of the South and Confederate camp-fire songs. |  |
THE PRISONER'S LAMENT.
The following song was written by Captain Clarkson, of
Missouri, and set to music by D. O. Booker, of Tennessee,
while both were prisoners of war on Johnson's Island.
My home is on a sea-girt isle,
Far, far away from thee;
Where thy dear form, thy blessed smile,
I never, never see.
I rest beneath a northern sky,
A sky to me so dreary—
I think of thee, dear one, and sigh
Alone upon Lake Erie—
Alone, alone, alone upon Lake Erie.
Far, far away from thee;
Where thy dear form, thy blessed smile,
I never, never see.
I rest beneath a northern sky,
A sky to me so dreary—
I think of thee, dear one, and sigh
Alone upon Lake Erie—
Alone, alone, alone upon Lake Erie.
The winds that waft to others joy,
But mock me with their breath;
They waste a perfume to destroy,
They sing a song of death.
The waves that beat against the shore,
Keep angry watch at night;
They wash beneath the prison door,
And always in my sight.
But mock me with their breath;
They waste a perfume to destroy,
They sing a song of death.
The waves that beat against the shore,
Keep angry watch at night;
They wash beneath the prison door,
And always in my sight.
No more I hear my loved one's voice,
No more her form I see;
No longer does my heart rejoice,
No longer am I free.
I lay me down to sleep,
With aching heart and weary,
With wind and wave my watch to keep,
I'm cast upon Lake Erie.
No more her form I see;
No longer does my heart rejoice,
No longer am I free.
I lay me down to sleep,
With aching heart and weary,
With wind and wave my watch to keep,
I'm cast upon Lake Erie.
| War poets of the South and Confederate camp-fire songs. | |