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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
FOR DECORATION DAY: 1861-1865, by RUPERT HUGHES Poet's Biography First Line: But do we truly mourn our soldier dead Last Line: The peaceful barracks where their bodies sleep. Subject(s): American Civil War; Holidays; Memorial Day; United States - History; Declaration Day | |||
BUT do we truly mourn our soldier dead, Or understand at all their precious fame -- We that were born too late to feel the flame That leapt from lowly hearths, and grew, dispread, And, like a pillar of fire, our armies led? Or you that knew them -- do the long years tame The memory-anguish? Are they more than name? Oh, let no stinted grief profane their bed! Let tears bedew each wreath that decks the lawn Of every grave! and raise a solemn prayer That their battalioned souls be joined to fare Dim roads, beyond the trumpets of the dawn, Yet perfumed, somehow, by our flowers that heap The peaceful barracks where their bodies sleep. | 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 |
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