We Are Coming, Father Abra'am

"We Are Coming, Father Abra'am"

"We Are Coming, Father Abra'am" cover
Poem by James S. Gibbons
Writer(s) James S. Gibbons

A 2009 United States Marine Band performance of "We Are Coming, Father Abra'am".
We Are Coming, Father Abra'am, arranged by L.O. Emerson.
We Are Coming, Father Abra'am, arranged by L.O. Emerson.
We Are Coming, Father Abra'am, arranged by J.A. Getze.

"We Are Coming, Father Abra'am", is a poem written by James S. Gibbons, set to music by eight different composers, including Stephen Foster. William Cullen Bryant published one version (with music by Luther Orlando Emerson (1820–1915). Bryant's newspaper originally published the poem and, because it was originally published anonymously, many assumed it was his, and it was widely republished, so Bryant issued a statement denying his authorship. The poem and music came in response to a call by Abraham Lincoln on July 1, 1862 for volunteers to fight the American Civil War.[1]

Lyrics

We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more,
From Mississippi's winding stream and from New England's shore.
We leave our plows and workshops, our wives and children dear,
With hearts too full for utterance, with but a silent tear.
We dare not look behind us but steadfastly before.
We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more!

We are coming, coming, our Union to restore,
We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more!

If you look across the hilltops that meet the northern sky,
Long moving lines of rising dust your vision may descry;
And now the wind, an instant, tears the cloudy veil aside,
And floats aloft our spangled flag in glory and in pride;
And bayonets in the sunlight gleam, and bands brave music pour,
We are coming, father Abr'am, three hundred thousand more!

We are coming, coming, our Union to restore,
We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more!

If you look up all our valleys where the growing harvests shine,
You may see our sturdy farmer boys fast forming into line;
And children from their mother's knees are pulling at the weeds,
And learning how to reap and sow against their country's needs;
And a farewell group stands weeping at every cottage door,
We are coming, Father Abr'am, three hundred thousand more!

We are coming, coming, our Union to restore,
We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more!

You have called us, and we're coming by Richmond's bloody tide,
To lay us down for freedom's sake, our brothers' bones beside;
Or from foul treason's savage group, to wrench the murderous blade;
And in the face of foreign foes its fragments to parade.
Six hundred thousand loyal men and true have gone before,
We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more!

We are coming, coming, our Union to restore,
We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more![1]

  1. ^ "WE ARE COMING, FATHER ABRAHAM". Civil War Poetry. Archived from the original on December 20, 2004. Retrieved December 20, 2004. 

References

  1. ↑ Silber, Irwin (1995). Songs of the Civil War. Courier Dover Publications. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-486-28438-5. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
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