FOUR hundred thousand men, The brave, the good, the true, In tangled wood, in mountain glen, On battle plain, in prison pen, Lie dead for me and you! Four hundred thousand of the brave Have made our ransomed soil their grave, For me and you! Good friend, for me and you! In many a fevered swamp, By many a black bayou, In many a cold and frozen camp, The weary sentinel ceased his tramp, And died for me and you! From Western plain to ocean tide Are stretched the graves of those who died For me and you! Good friend, for me and you! On many a bloody plain Their ready swords they drew, And poured their life-blood, like the rain, A home, a heritage to gain, To gain for me and you! Our brothers mustered by our side, They marched, and fought, and bravely died, For me and you! Good friend, for me and you! Up many a fortress wall They charged, -- those boys in blue, -- Mid surging smoke and volleyed ball, The bravest were the first to fall! To fall for me and you! Those noble men, -- the Nation's pride, -- Four hundred thousand men have died, For me and you! Good friend, for me and you! In treason's prison-hold Their martyr spirits grew To stature like the saints of old, While, amid agonies untold, They starved for me and you! The good, the patient, and the tried, Four hundred thousand men have died, For me and you! Good friend, for me and you! A debt we ne'er can pay To them is justly due, And to the Nation's latest day our children's children still shall say, "They died for me and you!" Four hundred thousand of the brave Made this our ransomed soil their grave, For me and you! Good friend, for me and you! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WHEN I WROTE A LITTLE by HAYDEN CARRUTH THE THANKSGIVING IN BOSTON HARBOR [JUNE 12, 1630] by HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH A MAN BY THE NAME OF BOLUS by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY FESTE'S SONG (2), FR. TWELFTH NIGHT by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: 130 by ALFRED TENNYSON TRAILING ARBUTUS by HENRY ABBEY |