 | Poems of home and country |  |
THE VETERANS.
Sad, but yet glad, our thoughts recall
The days of woe, and blood, and strife,
When thousands rushed, to stand, or fall,
For Freedom and the nation's life,
The days of woe, and blood, and strife,
When thousands rushed, to stand, or fall,
For Freedom and the nation's life,
Hunger and thirst, and leaden hail,
And frost, and heat, and rain, and dew,
And hopes deferred, like springs that fail
In summer's drought, our forces knew.
And frost, and heat, and rain, and dew,
And hopes deferred, like springs that fail
In summer's drought, our forces knew.
The hurried march, the lonely rest;
The trenches where we laid our dead;
The tangled paths our footsteps pressed;
The arms that ached, the feet that bled;
The trenches where we laid our dead;
The tangled paths our footsteps pressed;
The arms that ached, the feet that bled;
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The picket, on his silent beat;
The foeman's gun with stealthy flash;
The fields where men were mowed like wheat;
The sweeping cannon's deadly crash,—
The foeman's gun with stealthy flash;
The fields where men were mowed like wheat;
The sweeping cannon's deadly crash,—
How vividly they all return,—
Scenes which the soul can ne'er forget!
Like quenchless watch-fires still they burn,—
'T was there that death and glory met.
Scenes which the soul can ne'er forget!
Like quenchless watch-fires still they burn,—
'T was there that death and glory met.
O land we love, united land!
O'er thee one flag of freedom waves;
Living, our hosts one people stand,
And freemen sleep in freemen's graves.
O'er thee one flag of freedom waves;
Living, our hosts one people stand,
And freemen sleep in freemen's graves.
In God we trust,—our fathers' God;
Our people spread from sea to sea;
We hear Thy voice, we heed Thy nod;
Keep us one people, brave and free.
Our people spread from sea to sea;
We hear Thy voice, we heed Thy nod;
Keep us one people, brave and free.
Speak to our hearts in peace and love;
Lead us as by the prophet's rod;
Our honor one, O, let us prove
One land, one people, for one God!
Lead us as by the prophet's rod;
Our honor one, O, let us prove
One land, one people, for one God!
May 24, 1891.
| Poems of home and country | |