We shall meet but we shall miss him,
There will be one vacant chair,
We shall linger to caress him,
While we breathe our evening prayer,
When a year ago we gathered,
Joy was in his mild blue eye,
But a golden cord is severed,
And our hopes in ruin life.
We shall meet but we shall miss him,
There will be one vacant chair,
We shall linger to caress him,
While we breathe our evening prayer.
At our fireside, sad and lonely,
Often will the bosom swell,
At remembrance of the story,
How our noble Willy fell,
How he strove to bear our banner,
Through to the thickest of the fight,
And uphold our country's honor
In the strength of manhood's might.
We shall meet but we shall miss him,
There will be one vacant chair,
We shall linger to caress him,
While we breathe our evening prayer.
True, they tell us wreaths of glory
Evermore will deck his brow,
But that soothes the anguish only,
Sweeping o'er our heartstrings now,
Sleep today, O early fallen,
In thy green and narrow bed.
Dirges from the pine and cypress,
Mingle with the tears we shed.
We shall meet but we shall miss him,
There will be one vacant chair,
We shall linger to caress him,
While we breathe our evening prayer.