"Oh bury me not on the lone Prairie"
Em4
These words came low and mourn - ful - ly
From the pallid lips of a youth who lay
On his dying bed at the close of day.
He has wasted and pined 'til o'er his brow
Em4
Death's shades were slowly gathering now.
He thought of home and loved ones nigh,
And the cowboys gathered to see him die.
"Oh bury me not on the lone Prairie,
Em4
Where the coyotes howl and the wind blows free.
In a narrow grave just six by three
Oh bury me not on the lone Prairie."
"It matters not, I've oft been told,
Em4
Where the body lies when the heart grows cold.
Yet grant, oh grant, this wish to me,
Oh bury me not on the lone Prairie."
"I've always wished to be laid when I died
Em4
In a little churchyard on a green hillside.
By my father's grave there let me be,
Oh bury me not on the lone Prairie."
"I wish to lie where a mother's prayer
Em4
And a sister's tear will mingle there.
Where friends can come and weep o'er me.
Oh bury me not on the lone Prairie."
"For there's another whose tears will shed
Em4
For the one who lies in a Prairie bed.
It breaks my heart to think of her now,
She has curled these locks; she has kissed this brow."
"Oh bury me not..." And his voice failed there
Em4
But they took no heed to his dying prayer.
In a narrow grave, just six by three,
They buried him there on the lone Prairie.
And the cowboys now as they roam the plain
Em4
For they marked the spot where his bones were lain,
Fling a handful of roses o'er his grave
With a prayer to God, his soul to save.