Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE VOLUNTEER, by ELBRIDGE JEFFERSON CUTLER Poet's Biography First Line: At dawn,' he said, 'I bid them all farewell ...' Last Line: "I follow, though I die!" Subject(s): Holidays; Memorial Day; Soldiers; Declaration Day | ||||||||
"AT dawn," he said, "I bid them all farewell, To go where bugles call and rifles gleam." And with the restless thought asleep he fell, And glided into dream. A great hot plain from sea to mountain spread, -- Through it a level river slowly drawn: He moved with a vast crowd, and at its head Streamed banners like the dawn. There came a blinding flash, a deafening roar, And dissonant cries of triumph and dismay; Blood trickled down the river's reedy shore, And with the dead he lay. The morn broke in upon his solemn dream, And still, with steady pulse and deepening eye, "Where bugles call," he said, "and rifles gleam, I follow, though I die!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MEMORIAL DAY by JOSEPHINE MILES MEMORIAL DAY FOR THE WAR DEAD by YEHUDA AMICHAI MEMORIAL DAY by MICHAEL ANANIA AN ODE ON THE UNVEILING OF THE SHAW MEMORIA BOSTON COMMON, MAY 31, 1897 by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH FREDERICKSBURG by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH THE DEATH OF GRANT by AMBROSE BIERCE MEMORIAL DAY by WILLIAM E. BROOKS VANQUISHED; ON THE DEATH OF GENERAL GRANT by FRANCIS FISHER BROWNE WHEN THE SPEED COMES by ROBERT FROST |
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