Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WHAT MARCHES?, by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WHAT MARCHES?, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: What marches when the veterans march
Last Line: But lift the hat, and pray?
Subject(s): Holidays; Memorial Day; Declaration Day


What marches when the veterans march
On the thirtieth day of May,
That limping, glorious line of men
Over a flower-strewn way?

Why, Gettysburg is marching there,
And frightful Malvern Hill,
The shame and terror of Bull Run,
The loss of Chancellorsville.

Fort Sumter marches, Donelson,
And Sherman's "to the sea,"
The Monitor, the Hartford,
Duels of Grant and Lee.

There goes the ghost of Andersonville,
And Libby's spectre grim;
There marches Lookout Mountain,
There strides the Battle Hymn.

There passes the Proclamation,
End of a curse abhorred;
And there goes Appomattox,
The sheathing of the sword.

All this goes by when the veterans march
On the thirtieth day of May;
And what can those that see it do
But lift the hat, and pray?





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