The stealthy step of the panther,
The tiger's cruel eye;
A flash--and the wail of a nation
Rang in that terrified cry.

Shame falls on the daring Southren,
Woe on the Southren land,
The stars and bars are quartered
With the murderer's bloody hand

Well--he stood to his duty firmly,
Rebellion's waves rolled high,
He dared to be true and simple
To battle a gilded lie

And the life has died out of treason,
Died with oppression and wrong,
The shame is wiped from the nation
Worn as a jewel so long

But he, in the hour of triumph
Who wise and firmly stood
Planning for them large mercies,
Lies weltering in his blood.

For a cause so vile meet ending,
To set with a murder stain,
The "sum of human villainy"
Should die with the brand of Cain