Mothers and Wives

Mothers and wives,‘ tis the call to arms

That the bugler yonder prepares to sound;

We stand on the brink of war's alarms

And your men may lie on a blood-stained ground.

The drums may play and the flags may fly,

And our boys may don the brown and blue,

And the call that summons brave men to die

Is the call for glorious women, too.

Mothers and wives, if the summons comes,

You, as ever since war has been,

Must hear with courage the rolling drums

And dry your tears when the flags are seen.

For never has hero fought and died

Who has braver been than the mother, who

Buckled his saber at his side,

And sent him forward to dare and do.

Mothers and wives, should the call ring out,

It is you must answer your country's cry;

You must furnish brave hearts and stout

For the firing line where the heroes die.

And never a corpse on the field of strife

Should be honored more in his country's sight

Than the noble mother or noble wife

Who sent him forth in the cause of right.

Mothers and wives,‘ tis the call for men

To give their strength and to give their lives;

But well we know, such a summons then

Is the call for mothers and loyal wives,

For you must give us the strength we need,

You must give us the boys in blue,

For never a boy or a man shall bleed

But a mother or wife shall suffer, too.