Let not a tear be shed!
Of grief give not a token,
Although the silver thread
And golden bowl be broken!
A warrior lived — a Christian died!
Sorrow's forgotten in our pride!
Go, bring his battle-blade,
His helmet and his plume!
And be his trophies laid
Beside him in the tomb,
Where files of time-marked veterans come
With martial tramp and muffled drum!
Give to the earth his frame,
To moulder and decay;
But not his deathless name —
That can not pass away!
In youth, in manhood, and in age,
He dignified his country's page!
Green be the willow-bough
Above the swelling mound,
Where sleeps the hero now
In consecrated ground:
Thy epitaph, O Delavan!
God's noblest work — an honest man!