William Shakespeare Hays

“ Each soldier wept then like a child,
Stout hearts were they and brave;
The flag his winding sheet, God’s book
The key unto his grave.
They wrote upon a simple board
These words: “This is a guide
To those who mourn the drummer boy
Who prayed before he died.”
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. ”