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THROWING THE SHOE
We stood 'mid the sunset's glories,
And our words were brief and few,
Though ever nearer and nearer
Drifted onward a sad adieu.
We, to be left in the quiet
Of home to watch and pray;
He, to stand up for the starry flag,
In the Union ranks far away.

We knew the cause was a good one,
That the hand which led was the Lord's;
Yet the tears would come unbidden,
And our thoughts took a depth beyond words;
With a glimpse of the dread and the waiting
In the days that must surely come,
When fear should walk beside our hope
Of saying a "Welcome home."

But there throbbed one heart, whose loving
Had trust and bravery too,
And she deemed it a sin that our soldier,
Should have only a tearful adieu;
So she said, as she glanced around her
On faces sad and pale,
"I'll bring you good luck with an olden spell
That never was known to fail."

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