They fell in freedom’s battle,
They died for manhood’s right,
They fought and won the struggle
But they perished in the fight;
They never knew the blessing
Of the cause they died to save,
But the final of their struggle
Was the dark and yawning grave.
They rallied round the standard
Of unionism strong;
They strove by peaceful methods
To remedy the wrong;
They asked for living wages,
They sought but to be free –
But would the tyrants grant it?
Oh, would they grant the fee.
A, no! The moneyed villains,
To give was not their will
They bade their hired assassins
To shoot – and shoot to kill!
They began the battle
Our heroes faced the foe,
They did their duty bravely,
As the people plainly know.
Peace to those brave martyrs,
Three years have passed since then
They fought and died at Virden
They died like gallant men.
May heaven’s joy be with them.
For braver men ne’er stood
Within the ranks of labor
In noble brotherhood.
They died for manhood’s right,
They fought and won the struggle
But they perished in the fight;
They never knew the blessing
Of the cause they died to save,
But the final of their struggle
Was the dark and yawning grave.
They rallied round the standard
Of unionism strong;
They strove by peaceful methods
To remedy the wrong;
They asked for living wages,
They sought but to be free –
But would the tyrants grant it?
Oh, would they grant the fee.
A, no! The moneyed villains,
To give was not their will
They bade their hired assassins
To shoot – and shoot to kill!
They began the battle
Our heroes faced the foe,
They did their duty bravely,
As the people plainly know.
Peace to those brave martyrs,
Three years have passed since then
They fought and died at Virden
They died like gallant men.
May heaven’s joy be with them.
For braver men ne’er stood
Within the ranks of labor
In noble brotherhood.
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