The Vacant Chair

We shall meet but we shall miss him
There will be one vacant chair
We shall linger to caress him
While we breathe our ev’ning prayer
When one year ago we gathered
Joy was in his mild blue eye
Now the golden cord is severed
And our hopes in ruin lie
We shall meet, but we shall miss him
There will be one vacant chair
We shall linger to caress him
While we breathe our ev’ning prayer
At our fireside, sad and lonely
Often will the bosom swell
At remembrance of the story
How our noble Willie fell
How he strove to bear the banner
Thro' 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 ev’ning prayer
True, they tell us wreaths of glory
Evermore will deck his brow
But this 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 ev’ning prayer