Take me back to the home of my childhood,
Where the rivers flow swiftly and clear.
To that place where the mountains touch Heaven.
To the home I will hold ever dear.

I’ll find peace near the redbud and laurel,
In the glen where the trout stream runs free.
How I long for our quiet green meadows,
It’s the place where my heart yearns to be.

I’m so weary of war and the bloodshed.
Let me rest near the old cabin door.
Sing me hymns from our old family bible.
Then rejoice, for I’m free, evermore.

This poem was found in the pocket of a young
Negro soldier who died in battle at Gettysburg.

Written from the imagination of the author,
Robert Eugene Joseph.