There's a happy time coming, <br />When the boys come home. <br />There's a glorious day coming, <br />When the boys come home. <br />We will end the dreadful story <br />Of this treason dark and gory <br />In a sunburst of glory, <br />When the boys come home. <br /> <br />The day will seem brighter <br />When the boys come home, <br />For our hearts will be lighter <br />When the boys come home. <br />Wives and sweethearts will press them <br />In their arms and caress them, <br />And pray God to bless them, <br />When the boys come home. <br /> <br />The thinned ranks will be proudest <br />When the boys come home, <br />And their cheer will ring the loudest <br />When the boys come home. <br />The full ranks will be shattered, <br />And the bright arms will be battered, <br />And the battle-standards tattered, <br />When the boys come home. <br /> <br />Their bayonets may be rusty, <br />When the boys come home, <br />And their uniforms dusty, <br />When the boys come home. <br />But all shall see the traces <br />Of battle's royal graces, <br />In the brown and bearded faces, <br />When the boys come home. <br /> <br />Our love shall go to meet them, <br />When the boys come home, <br />To bless them and to greet them, <br />When the boys come home; <br />And the fame of their endeavor <br />Time and change shall not dissever <br />From the nation's heart forever, <br />When the boys come home.<br /><br />John Hay<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/when-the-boys-come-home/
