“Do Not Cheer, Men Are Dying,” Said Capt. Phillips, in the Spanish-American War + 

Do not cheer, for men are dying + 

From their distant homes in pain; + 

And the restless sea is darkened + 

By a flood of crimson rain. + 

Do not cheer, for anxious mothers + 

Wait and watch in lonely dread; + 

Vainly waiting for the footsteps + 

Never more their paths to tread. + 

Do not cheer, while little children + 

Gather round the widowed wife, + 

Wondering why an unknown people + 

Sought their own dear father’s life. + 

Do not cheer, for aged fathers + 

Bend above their staves and weep, + 

While the ocean sings the requiem + 

Where their fallen children sleep. + 

Do not cheer, for lips are paling + 

On which lay the mother’s kiss; + 

’Mid the dreadful roar of battle + 

How that mother’s hand they miss! + 

Do not cheer: once joyous maidens, + 

Who the mazy dance did tread, + 

Bow their heads in bitter anguish, + 

Mourning o’er their cherished dead. + 

Do not cheer while maid and matron + 

In this strife must bear a part; + 

While the blow that strikes a soldier + 

Reaches to some woman’s heart. + 

Do not cheer till arbitration + 

O’er the nations holds its sway, + 

And the century now closing + 

Ushers in a brighter day. + 

Do not cheer until the nation + 

Shall more wise and thoughtful grow + 

Than to staunch a stream of sorrow + 

By an avalanche of woe. + 

Do not cheer until each nation + 

Sheathes the sword and blunts the spear, + 

And we sing aloud for gladness: + 

Lo, the reign of Christ is here, + 

And the banners of destruction + 

From the battle-field are furled, + 

And the peace of God descending + 

Rests upon a restless world. + 