May God bless all our boys
By the camp-fire's ruddy glow,
Or when in the deadly fight
They front the embattled foe;
And comfort each mother's heart,
As she sits in the fading light,
And ponders with anxious heart--
Oh, where is my boy to-night?




A SOLDIER'S VALENTINE.

Just from the sentry's tramp
(I must take it again at ten),
I have laid my musket down,
And seized instead my pen;
For, pacing my lonely round
In the chilly twilight gray,
The thought, dear Mary, came,
That this is St. Valentine's Day.

And with the thought there came
A glimpse of the happy time
When a school-boy's first attempt
I sent you, in borrowed rhyme,
On a gilt-edged sheet, embossed
With many a quaint design,
And signed, in school-boy hand,