1966
Official Notice
Composed by 
Elie Siegmeister
Elie Siegmeister Text by 
Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes The Face of War Song Collection
"Official Notice" is the first song of Siegmeister's The Face of War cycle, which sets five texts of Langston Hughes.
Text
Official Notice
by Langston Hughes
Dear Death:
I got your message
That my son is dead.
The ink you used
To write it
Is the blood he bled.
You say he died with honor
On the battlefield,
And that I am honored, too,
By this bloody yield.
Your letter
Signed in blood,
With his blood
Is sealed.
–The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, p. 558
Sheet Music