Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, "'THE BRIGADE MUST NOT KNOW, SIR!' [MAY 2, 1863]", by ANONYMOUS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

"'THE BRIGADE MUST NOT KNOW, SIR!' [MAY 2, 1863]", by                    
First Line: Who've ye got there? Only a dying brother'
Last Line: "living, he laid the first stones of a nation; / and dead, he builds it yet"
Subject(s): "american Civil War;chancellorsville, Battle Of (1863);jackson, Thomas (stonewall) (1824-1863);u.s. - History;


"WHO'VE ye got there?" -- "Only a dying brother,
Hurt in the front just now."
"Good boy! he'll do. Somebody tell his mother
Where he was killed, and how."

"Whom have you there?" -- "A crippled courier, Major,
Shot by mistake, we hear.
He was with Stonewall." "Cruel work they've made here;
Quick with him to the rear!"

"Well, who comes next?" -- "Doctor, speak low, speak low, sir;
Don't let the men find out!
It's Stonewall!" -- "God!" -- "The brigade must not know, sir,
While there's a foe about!"

Whom have we here -- shrouded in martial manner,
Crowned with a martyr's charm?
A grand dead hero, in a living banner,
Born of his heart and arm:

The heart whereon his cause hung -- see how clingeth
That banner to his bier!
The arm wherewith his cause struck -- hark! how ringeth
His trumpet in their rear!

What have we left? His glorious inspiration,
His prayers in council met.
Living, he laid the first stones of a nation;
And dead, he builds it yet.





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