| Success is counted sweetest | |
| By those who ne'er succeed. | |
| To comprehend a nectar | |
| Requires sorest need. | |
| Not one of all the purple host | 5 |
| Who took the flag to-day | |
| Can tell the definition, | |
| So clear, of victory! | |
| As he, defeated, dying, | |
| On whose forbidden ear | 10 |
| The distant strains of triumph | |
| Burst agonized and clear! |