Classic Poem

"Oh bury me not on the lone prairie,"
These words came low and mournfully
From the pallid lips of a youth who lay
On his dying bed at the close of day.

He had waited in pain till o'er his brow
Death's shadows fast were gathering now,
He thought of home and his love ones nigh,
As the cowboys gathered to see him die.

"Oh bury me not on the lone prairie,
Where the wild cayotes will howl o'er me,
In a narrow grave just six by three,
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie.

"It matters not, I've oft been told,
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.

"Oh bury me not on the lone prairie,
Where the owl all night hoots mournfully,
Where the rattlesnakes hiss and the crow flies free,
Where the buffalo paws o'er a lone prairie.
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie."