All those who fell for, and thus were swindled by, Tyranny,

Have hearkened unto it's piercing eagle's-scream;

Whilst, every valiant soul who gave up the very breath of life for the cause of Liberty…

Yea, each one has fallen to the cold Earth but for a dream.

On this day, great twin cranes, mighty works of Man, raise my mounted likeness high,

O'er divided, derided Richmond streets 'neath a marble-opal sky;

Where I'm bound, I cannot say, though my hand-signed mark remains enshrined

'Pon the grim mem'ry of Appomatox, and in the old stone-gray ghosts, who, in vain, both slew and died.

Impostors, now, wade through our pleas in slain Giants' shoes;

Although buried deep 'neath Gettysburg, I yet rattle martyrs' bones.

Now, the dust of history's lies and truths has all but settled o'er their tombs;

Still, the sons of foe and Kin alike have defaced the very headstones.

For whene'er a loyal Southron dies, be his fate be sabre or plague,

He is born once more in the guise of another proud Southern son,

But before he may be granted safe passage unto his newfound Earthly flesh,

He must forgo the judgement of his bearers far 'cross that watery plain which the Gulf Wind calls it's home.

In the realm of the fallen, where the Mississippi was born, and now freely flows,

His Honor is weighed, as well as his Grace,

and if they are judged to be pure, he may return to Dixie's struggle eternal;

If he is seen by his Maker and shunned, Saint Peter decides where he must go.

Each Southron, true, prays for the thundering storm fast approaching;

He awaits with great patience on that destined day when his emboldened Land might rise once again.

O, God of Earth, battlefield, and Altar,

Lord, dig me deep unto a bed where the Yellow Rose doth grow!

So, Rise… O, Rise… Yea, raise me up 'fore old Dixieland's proud sky,

For I still sit staunchly mounted 'pon this brazen steed in the tainted Southern wind;

Yea, Rise… Rise! Rise!... From ours, this great old Nation of the blind,

Our waning soul, our promised future, once again to find!