1 We shall meet, but we shall miss him,
There will be one vacant chair;
We shall linger to caress him,
When we breathe our ev'ning pray'r.
When a year ago we gathered,
Joy was in his mild blue eye,
But a golden cord is severed.
And our hopes in ruin lie.

Chorus:
We shall meet, but we shall miss him,
There will be one vacant chair;
We shall linger to caress him,
When we breathe our ev'ning pray'r.

2 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 our banner
Thro' the thickest of the fight,
And uphold our country's honor
In the strength of manhood's might. [Chorus]

3 True, they tell us wreaths of glory
Evermore will deck his brow,
But this soothes the anguish only
Sweeping o'er our heart strings now.
Sleep today, O early fallen,
In thy green and narrow bed;
Dirges from the pine and cypress
Mingle with the tears we shed. [Chorus]