To E. O. Excell.
"Where Are the Wicked Folks Buried" (8 July 1885)
[possibly orginally published by Root & Cady
in Sept. 1868, Plate No. 4403-7]
Song for Base Voice.
Words by "Truth Seeker,"
Music by
George Frederick Root, 1820-1895

"Tell me gray headed Sexton," I said,
"Where in this field are the wicked folks laid?
I have wandered this quiet old graveyard through
And studied the epitaphs old and new
But on monument, obelisk, pillar, or stone,
I read of no evil that men have done,
I read of no evil that men have done."

The old sexton stood by a grave newly made
And answered while leaning his hand on his spade,
I knew by the gleam of his clear honest eye
That his heart was instructing his lips to reply,
That his heart was instructing his lips to reply.

Who is to judge when the soul takes flight?
Who is to judge 'twixt the wrong and the right?
Which of us mortals shall dare to say
That our neighbor was wicked who died to day,
That our neighbor was wicked who died to day.

In our journey thro' life the farther we speed,
The more we may learn that humanity's need
Is charity's spirit, that prompts us to find
the virtures instead of the sins of mankind.

It is therefore good deeds we record on these stones,
The evil men do, let it die with their bones;
I have labor'd as sexton for many a year
But I never have buried a bad man here,
I never have buried a bad man here.