Death's Brigade

The wolf is in the desert
   And the panther in the brake.
The fox is on his rambles
   And the owl is wide awake;
For now 'tis noon of darkness
   And the world is all asleep,
And some shall wake to glory
    And some shall wake to weep.
                                 Ku Klux.

A river black is running
   To a blacker sea afar,
And by its banks is waving
   A flag without a star:
There move the ghostly columns
   Of the swift Brigade of Death,
And every villain sleeping
   Is gasping now for breath.
                              Ku Klux.

Thrice hath the lone owl hooted
   And thrice the panther cried,
And swifter through the darkness
   The Pale Brigade shall ride.
No trumpet sounds its coming,
   And no drum-beat stirs the air,
But noiseless in their vengeance
   They wreak it everywhere.
                               Ku Klux.

Fly! fly! ye dastard bandits,
   Who are bleeding all the land,
The Dread Brigade is marching
   With viewless sword and brand;
Now think that from its vengeance
   You in deepest dens may hide,
For through the darkest caverns
   The Dread Brigade will ride.
                               Ku Klux.

The misty gray is hanging
   On the tresses of the East,
And morn shall tell the story
   Of the revel and the feast.
The ghostly troop shall vanish
   Like the light in constant cloud,
But where they rode shall gather
   The coffin and the shroud.
                                Ku Klux.

-Author Unknown, Circa 1869 A.D.