“And I did love a soldier once, he was
Taken from me, and tears were in his eyes
At his induction; so it came to pass,
Though everybody said it was not wise.
To love a soldier—and he passed from me,
In service of some principles renowned;
We wrote, I wrote, and though we pledged to be
Faithful our love in time it was disowned.
Because I saw him turn into a man,
And turning, pass from me, a lithesome lass,
A boy when he went in, in that brief span
Become a man, who from me he did pass.
I learned that love has seldom time to tarry,
Nor ever does outlast the military.”