Lyrics are Anonymous

The poem which inspired this song was found in a collection of nineteenth-century poetry presented as a gift to the composer’s friend, Richard Powers, by his grandmother, Mrs. Agnes Travers. This particular poem was found near Port Royal, South Carolina, in 1864, written by an anonymous soldier fatally wounded during the Civil War.

The live recording is also the first performance, by Christine Klemperer, accompanied by Frank DiGiacomo, at An Evening of Song by Frank DiGiacomo, May 18, 1979 at the Carrier Theater of the Mulroy Civic Center, Syracuse, New York.

LYRICS
I lay me down to sleep, with little thought or care
whether my waking find me here or there.
A bowing burden’d head that only asks to rest,
unquestioning, upon a loving breast.
My good right hand forgets its cunning now -
To march the weary march I know not how.
I am not eager, bold, nor strong - all that is past;
I am ready not to do at last, at last, at last.
My half day’s work is done, and this is all my part;
I give a patient God my patient heart -
and grasp His banner still, though all its blue be dim;
these stripes, no less than stars, lead after Him.

Poem found by Mrs. Robert S. Howland published in Beautiful Gems of Thought and Sentiment,
compiled by Henry Davenport Northrop, American Publishing Co., Cleveland Ohio, 1890.