ON THE ERECTION OF A SOLDIERS' MONUMENT.
Take these choice treasures, gentle earth,
And shield them in thy faithful breast,
Gathered like gems of priceless worth,
And brought among thy dead to rest.
Take this new honor reared in love,
Where sleep the trusted and the brave,
Pointing the mourner's faith above,
To Him who takes, to Him who gave.
Round this fair shaft let summer leave
Its fragrant airs, at morn and even,
And golden clouds in sunlight weave
Pathways of glory into heaven.
Again the flag of peace shall float
O'er all the land from sea to sea;
O'er all the land shall swell the note
Of Freedom's final Jubilee.
We build the shrine, we sing the brave,
Yet own how vain are human boasts;
In God alone is power to save,—
Our trust is in the Lord of hosts.
Newton, April, 1864.
