University of Virginia Library

And when the banqueting was done, they held their glasses high,
In silent reverence, while they drank to comrades in the sky;
And then came speeches, songs, and rhymes, that bred the laugh and cheer,
Or called a gentle sadness forth, and many a silent tear;
And once a veteran, who could feel the words upon their way,
Recited this short monologue of Decoration Day: