THE BAND IN THE PINES
by John Esten Cooke
(1829-1867)

Oh, band in the pine-wood, cease!
   Cease with your splendid call;
The living are brave and noble,
   But the dead were bravest of all!
   
They throng to the martial summons,
   To the loud triumphant strain;
And the dear, bright eyes of long dead friends
   Come to the heart again.
   
They come with the ringing bugle,
   And the deep drum's mellow roar,
Till the soul is faint with longing
   For the hands we clasp no more.
   
Oh, band in the pine-wood, cease,
   Or the heart will melt in tears,
For the gallant eyes and the smiling lips
   And the voices of old years.

Postwar Remembrances

This page is http://civilwarpoetry.org/confederate/postwar/pines.html
Last modified 18-April-2001