'Twas after the battle of Gettysburg, Closing slowly was the day, As we were tenderly bearing The dead and wounded away. On the outskirts of the battle-field Was the scene pathetic to see; 'Twas a soldier dead, seated on the ground With back against a tree. In his hand he held some object His eyes on it fixed steadfast, -- An object that must have been dear to him, That his eyes had looked on last. As we drew nearer to him we noticed 'Twas a picture, that was all. A picture of two sweet children, Two children pretty and small. Man tho' I was, and knowing well What the trials of a soldier are. And used to carnage and bloodshed Through these many years of war; The sight of that man who had feasted His eyes on his little dears While his eyes were dimmed in the death-haze, To my softened eyes brought tears. In our throats we felt lumps gathering (There were six of us in the crowd), And mist was coming before our sight As we stood with heads low bowed. And I thought, as I stood and saw him, Of my far-off Northern home, Where a loving wife watched for me, And a baby boy alone. So we stood and looked at the soldier, With the picture gripped in his hand, And instinctively each others' thoughts We seemed to understand. We dug a grave for the hero And calmly we laid him to rest, With the picture of the children Laid lovingly on his breast. A sad and touching scene it was, We spoke not a single word; No mournful beat of muffled drum, No musket shot was heard. And by his lonely pillow I inscribed upon the tree Where we'd found him: "Somebody's Father, July 3, '63." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST by GILES FLETCHER THE YOUNGER AFTER MUSIC by JOSEPHINE PRESTON PEABODY SONNET: 106 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE THE NOTHING REDEMPTION by BRUCE WEIGL TO WAKEN AN OLD LADY by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS INVOCATION by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE |