Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind.
Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky
And the affrighted steed ran on alone,
Do not weep.
War is kind.

Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment,
Little souls who thirst for fight,
These men were born to drill and die.
The unexplained glory flies above them,
Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom—
A field where a thousand corpses lie.

Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.
Because your father tumbled in the yellow trenches,
Raged at his breast, gulped and died,
Do not weep.
War is kind.

Swift blazing flag of the regiment,
Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill and die.
Point for them the virtue of slaughter,
Make plain to them the excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses lie.

Mother whose heart hung humble as a button
On the bright splendid shroud of your son.
Do not weep.
War is kind.

Last night, last night, in the dark o' the moon 
Into my dreams slid a faery tune 
It slew the dreams that I dreamed of him, 
With its moonshine music, faint and dim. 
What tune should the fairy pipers play 
But "Over the Hills and Far Away? " 

The music called to my idle feet, 
And O! the music was wild and sweet: 
I left my dreams and my lonely bed, 
And followed afar where the music led — 
And never a tune did the pipers play 
But "Over the Hills and Far Away." 

Over the hills and far away, 
What love has tenderer words to say? 
Love that lifteth or bows the head, 
Love that liveth or love that's dead? 
Hills that are far away are fair, 
And I followed the ghost of my lover there. 

We danced all night in a silent band, 
I and my lover, hand in hand: 
We danced, nor knew till the dew was dry 
That deep slept Donat and lone slept I — 
We took no thought of the coming day 
Over the hills and far away. 

My eyes are blind with the growing light, 
And O my grief! that the day was night — 
For my heart is broke, for my lover's eyes, 
And all day long in my ears there cries 
The tune of the fairy pipes that play 
"Over the Hills and Far Away."