Traditional
(From a poem by Edwin H. Chapin originally used as an elegy for burials at sea, adapted for Cowboy burials on the “Sea of Grass” )
“Oh, bury me not on the Lone Prairie;”
These words came sad and mournfully
From the pallid lips of a youth who lay
On his dying bed at the close of day.
“It matters not, so I’ve been told
Where the body lies when the heart grows cold,
But grant, oh grant, this wish to me;
Bury me not on the Lone Prairie.”
“Bury me not on the Lone Prairie.
Where coyotes howl and the wind blows free,
In a narrow grave, six by three;
Oh, Bury me not on the Lone Prairie.”
“Oh, Bury me not…” His voice failed there;
We took no heed of his dying prayer.
In a narrow grave, six by three,
We buried him there on the Lone Prairie.
And the Cowboys now, as they roam the Plains,
They mark the spot where his bones were lain;
Fling a handful of roses o’er his grave
With a prayer to God his soul to save.