Classic Poem

We deck to-day each soldier's grave,
We come with offerings pure and white
To bind the brows of those who gave
Their all to keep our honor bright.

We cannot pay the debt we owe;
They gave their lives that we might live;
Our warmest words fall far below
The worship that we fain would give.

O country! fairest of the free;
Columbia!—name forever blest;
O lost “Atlantis” of the sea!
Securely anchored in the West;

Unfold the flag their hands have borne!
The shreds of many a well-fought field;
The stripes alone are rent and torn,
The stars are there, our sacred shield.

Those stars are ours because they died,
The blue is dearer for their sake,
Who sleep on many a green hill-side,
In ranks that never more will break.

For well they wore the color true
That holds our constellation fair,
And evermore the “Boys in Blue”
Shall have a day of rest and prayer.

Yes, martyred heroes of the free!
We kneel beside your mounds and pray
That God our nation's guard may be,
And comrade's hope from day to day.

O day baptized in blood and tears!
The blood was theirs, the tears are ours;
And children's children through the years
Shall strew their graves with sweetest flowers.

And May-day garlands all in bloom
Will quicken other verse than mine,
And decorate the soldier's tomb
From Southern palm to Northern pine.