An English poem about a soldier leaving home was adapted for American patriotism.

This envelope features an illustration of a soldier saying farewell to his family above some lines of of poetry.

While the poem appears to be titled "The Girl I Left Behind Me," the quoted lines are actually the final stanza from a poem titled "The Soldier's Tear" by a 19th century British poet, Thomas Haynes Bayly:

"He turned and left the spot
Oh do not deem him weak;
For dauntless was the soldier's heart,
Though tears were on his cheek;
Go watch the foremost rank
In danger's dark career,
Be sure the hand most daring there
Has wiped away a tear."