To William Hayward Esq.
"Can I Go Dearest Mother!" (1862)
Ballad
Composed by Bernard Covert

1.
I am writing to you mother, knowing well what you will say,
When you read with tearful fondness what I write to you today.
Knowing well the flame of ardor on a loyal mother's part,
That will kindle impulse, with each throbbing of your heart.
I have heard my country calling for her sons that still are true;
I have loved that country, mother, only next to God and you;
And my soul is springing forward to resist her bitter foe;
  Can I go, my dearest mother? tell me, mother, can I go?

2.
From the battered walls of Sumter, from the wild waves of the sea,
I have heard her cry for succor, as the voice of God to me;
In prosperity I loved her in her days of dark distress
With your spirit in me, mother, could I love that country less?
They have pierced her heart with treason, they have caused her sons to bleed,
They have robbed her in her kindness, they have triumphed in her need;
They have trampled on her standard, and she calls me in her woe;
  Can I go, my dearest mother? tell me mother, can I go?

3.
I am young and slender, mother, they would call me yet a boy,
But I know the land I live in, and the blessings I enjoy;
I am old enough, my mother, to be loyal, proud and true
To be faithful to my country I have ever learned from you.
We must conquer this rebellion: let the doubting heart be still;
We must conquer it or perish. We must conquer, and we will!
But the faithfull must not falter, and shall I be wanting? No!
  Bid me go, my dearest mother! tell me mother, can I go?

4.
He who led his chosen people, in their efforts to be free
From the tyranny of Egypt, will be merciful to me;
Will protect me by His power, whatso'er I undertake;
Will return me home in safety, dearest mother, for your sake.
Or should this, my bleeding coutry, need a victim such as me,
I am nothing more than others who have perished to be free,
On her bosom let me slumber, on her altar let me die.
  I am not afraid, my mother, in so good a cause to die.

5.
There will come a day of gladness, when the people of the Lord
Shall look proudly on their banner, which His mercy has restored;
When the stars in perfect number, on their azure field of blue,
Shall be clustered in a Union, then and ever firm and true;
I may live to see it, mother, when the patriot's work is done,
And your heart so full of kindness, will beat proudly for your son;
Or through tears your eyes may see it with a sadly thoughtful view,
  And may love still more dearly the cost it won from you.

6.
I have written to you, mother, with a consciousness of right
I am thinking of you fondly, with a loyal heart to-night:
When I have your noble bidding, which shall tell me to press on,
I will come and kiss you, mother, come and kiss you, and be gone
In the sacred name of Freedom, and my country as her due
In the name Law and Justice, I have written this to you.
I am eager, anxious, longing to resist my country's foe;
  Shall I go, my dearest mother? tell me, mother, shall I go?