The Picture on the Wall

A Civil War song from 1864
Words and music by Henry Clay Work

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The sheet music: needed

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Accompaniment by Werner Tomaschewski:

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Accompaniment by Benjamin R. Tubb:

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Lyrics

1. ’Tis noon of night; the sable clouds
   Hang weeping in the sky,
   Alone I sit, where fancies flit
   Like spectral shadows by.
   Me thinks I see familiar forms,
   And on before them all,
   So fair, so calm, so wondrous like,
   Wondrous like the Picture on the Wall

Chorus
Among the brave and loyal,
How many loved ones fall!
Whose friends, bereft,
Have only left, only left
A Picture on the Wall

2. I hear the press of eager feet
   Upon my parlor floor;
   A moment, and my willing arms
   Enclasp my boy once more.
   I feel his warm breath on my cheek,
   But when his name I call
   A shadowy finger points to me,
   Points me to his Picture on the Wall
3. The moon’s full radiance struggles through,
   And lights my room once more;
   And thus shall heaven, O heart of mine,
   Thy seeming loss restore.
   Its light shall gild the present gloom
   And sweeter spells enthrall,
   Than that which binds me to this sweet,
   To this sweet true Picture on the Wall

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