Sharers of a common country, <br />They had met in deadly strife; <br />Men who should have been as brothers <br />Madly sought each other's life. <br /> <br />In the silence of the even, <br />When the cannon's lips were dumb, <br />Thoughts of home and all its loved ones <br />To the soldier's heart would come. <br /> <br />On the margin of a river, <br />'Mid the evening's dews and damps, <br />Could be heard the sounds of music <br />Rising from two hostile camps. <br /> <br />One was singing of its section <br />Down in Dixie, Dixie's land, <br />And the other of the banner <br />Waved so long from strand to strand. <br /> <br />In the land where Dixie's ensign <br />Floated o'er the hopeful slave, <br />Rose the song that freedom's banner, <br />Starry-lighted, long might wave. <br /> <br />From the fields of strife and carnage, <br />Gentle thoughts began to roam, <br />And a tender strain of music <br />Rose with words of "Home, Sweet Home." <br /> <br />Then the hearts of strong men melted, <br />For amid our grief and sin <br />Still remains that "touch of nature," <br />Telling us we all are kin. <br /> <br />In one grand but gentle chorus, <br />Floating to the starry dome, <br />Came the words that brought them nearer, <br />Words that told of "Home, Sweet Home." <br /> <br />For awhile, all strife forgotten, <br />They were only brothers then, <br />Joining in the sweet old chorus, <br />Not as soldiers, but as men. <br /> <br />Men whose hearts would flow together, <br />Though apart their feet might roam, <br />Found a tie they could not sever, <br />In the mem'ry of each home. <br /> <br />Never may the steps of carnage <br />Shake our land from shore to shore, <br />But may mother, home and Heaven, <br />Be our watchwords evermore.<br /><br />Frances Ellen Watkins Harper<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/home-sweet-home-2/
