“L AFAYETTE , we are here!”
Doffed helmet, bowed head
Greet you, the great Dead.
Were it weakness to shed
So impassioned a tear?
Lafayette, we are here!

We are here, Lafayette!
Though we waited so long,
We have come to right wrong,
Here are arms lithe and strong
That would pay the old debt,—
We are here, Lafayette!

Lafayette, as we kneel,
Can you hear in your grave
That our pledge is to save
Or to die—as the brave
Men of France do reveal
How to die for her weal!

Lafayette, we are here!
Vive la France! She shall live—
For her life we would give
What you gave, and retrieve
The dear debt—by your bier;—
Lafayette, we are here!