Lyrics
In your hands, my dissatisfied countrymen
And not in mine
Is the momentous issue of Civil War
The government will not assail you
You can have no conflicts, without being yourselves the aggressions
We are not enemies, but friends
We must not be enemies
Though passion may have strained
It must not break our bonds of affection
The mystic chords of memories
Stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave
To every living heart all across this broad land
Will yet swell the chorus of the Union
When again touched, as surely they will be
By the better angels of our nature
For if destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author
As a nation of Free Men, we must live
Through all time, or die of suicide
And not in mine
Is the momentous issue of Civil War
The government will not assail you
You can have no conflicts, without being yourselves the aggressions
We are not enemies, but friends
We must not be enemies
Though passion may have strained
It must not break our bonds of affection
The mystic chords of memories
Stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave
To every living heart all across this broad land
Will yet swell the chorus of the Union
When again touched, as surely they will be
By the better angels of our nature
For if destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author
As a nation of Free Men, we must live
Through all time, or die of suicide