Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER, by MARGARET STINEBACK First Line: His dreams have all grown lovely with the years Last Line: Along the path of peacegod's pathinstead! Subject(s): Courage; Graves; Peace; Social Protest; Soldiers; Unknown Soldier; War; Valor; Bravery; Tombs; Tombstones | ||||||||
His dreams have all grown lovely with the years The bullet-ache within his breast has flown As have the horrors; the dried, scarlet smears Upon a comrade's sleeve, the anguished groan Of some young prisoner; the rat-a-tat Of busy, calculating guns; the sound Of bursting shell, of shouting; and the spat Of wet French earth when shot ploughed through the ground. The din has passed away. Now flowers spill Their quiet petals like a fresh caress. There is dim relaxation in the thrill Of cool, rich soil, in the forgetfulness It fosters. He is like a sleeping boy Whose brow is damp, with tired brown curls that cling. He has that same exhaustion, that same joy, That pure oblivion of everything. This is the Unknown Soldier. His dear grave Is hallowed. So we, very grateful, say: "He signifies the bravest of the brave: He is above the common run of clay." Yet, what is braveryif it must show Its potency in carnage? Oh, they tread The truest road of bravery who go Along the path of PeaceGod's pathinstead! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SURVIVOR AMONG GRAVES by RANDALL JARRELL SUBJECTED EARTH by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE GRAVE OF MRS. HEMANS by CECIL FRANCES ALEXANDER THOSE GRAVES IN ROME by LARRY LEVIS NOT TO BE DWELLED ON by HEATHER MCHUGH ONE LAST DRAW OF THE PIPE by PAUL MULDOON ETRUSCAN TOMB by JOHN FREDERICK NIMS ENDING WITH A LINE FROM LEAR by MARVIN BELL THE GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS [MAY 9, 1775] by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT |
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