A Confederate Veteran’s Dream

From The Birmingham Age Herald, May 19, 1915. By Lance Hendrix.

He marches away in his slumbers,
    With a gay, romantic heart,
And thinks of the coming battles
    In which he will soon take part.
He thinks of a mother he’s leaving,
    And a sister so bonny and gay,
But his thoughts are most of another,
    His beautiful, dark-eyed May.

Again he’s with Lee in Virginia,
    Where the Rappahannock flows,
And forming in line of battle
    To fight the northern foes.
His heart is again rent with passion,
    His mind is fiery with hate;
He rushes into the battle,
    Leaving his safety to fate.

He sees the flag of the southland
    Flaunt proudly in the breeze,
And hears the shouts of the soldiers
    Ringing in all the trees.
He sees the opposing enemy
    Retire from the field in defeat,
And a thrill runs through his body
    From his head to the sole of his feet.

The scene is removed in a moment
    To another battle field,
Where the fight has raged for hours,
    And neither side will yield.
Again the vision takes him
    To a field that’s farther away,
Where the men in blue are victorious,
    And slowly retreat the gray.

Very true and vivid
    Do all those battles seem.
But, alas! he wakes to find
    That he’s only had a dream.
A little maid before him,
    Her head a mass of gold,
Whispers softly, “Grandfather dear,
    Your tea is getting cold.”