"Cheer! Cheer! Cheer!
Prisoner at Home!
After the war." [1865]
Poetry by G. F. Worthington.
Music by J[ames]. E. Magruder.

Baltimore, MD: G. F. Worthington
[Lithograher] G. F. Swain
[M 1640
  .M]
[Source: 1865-200001627@LoC/IHAS-CWM]

1. In the dreary prison cell,
As I sat mid thought of you,
Oh! my mother, and all loving ones at home;
How the tears did fill my eyes,
Oh! what bitter groans and sighs,
For the day when my deliverance should come.

CHORUS [sung after each VERSE]
Cheer! Cheer! Cheer! the skies are brighter,
Farewell, cells and bolts and bars and bolts and bars,
For the shouts of freedom to ring
Thoughout all our land again,
And we sit beneath triumphant stripes and stars.

2. Oh! the iron bolts and bars,
And he scant and loathsome fare,
And the vermin, and the thirst and biting cold:
Oh! don’t wonder, mother dear,
At my thin and whiten’d hair,
That your rosy boy is stiff, and growing old!

3. But now at my happy home,
With my country safe and free,
And my mother and the lov’d ones all around:
Oh! I bless the God above
For the wonders of His love,
And His praises through my heart and home resound.