 | Poems of home and country |  |
PRECIOUS LIVES.
Breathe balmy airs, ye fragrant flowers,
O'er every silent sleeper's head;
Ye crystal dews and summer showers,
Dress in fresh green each lowly bed.
O'er every silent sleeper's head;
Ye crystal dews and summer showers,
Dress in fresh green each lowly bed.
Strew loving offerings o'er the brave,
Their country's joy, their country's pride;
For us their precious lives they gave;
For Freedom's sacred cause they died.
Their country's joy, their country's pride;
For us their precious lives they gave;
For Freedom's sacred cause they died.
Each cherished name its place shall hold,
Like stars that gem the azure sky;
Their deeds, on history's page enrolled,
Are sealed for immortality.
Like stars that gem the azure sky;
Their deeds, on history's page enrolled,
Are sealed for immortality.
164
Long, where on Glory's field they fell,
May Freedom's spotless banner wave;
And fragrant tributes, grateful, tell,
Where live the free,—where sleep the brave.
May Freedom's spotless banner wave;
And fragrant tributes, grateful, tell,
Where live the free,—where sleep the brave.
Bridgeport, Conn., 1865.
| Poems of home and country | |