Classic Poem

Almighty hush the dying cries
That sound so sadly in mine ear
The sobs, the groans, the soul-breathed sighs
And wipe away the burning tear
That now wets many a gallant cheek
While pain wrings forth the wild death-shriek
From brave hearts steeled to fear

Voice of the solemn trumpet sound
Rend your dark mist-veil from the sky
Peirce through the war-shouts bursting round
And swell again triumphantly
For I would leave this mangl'ed clay
And pass to regions far-away
'Mid tones of victory

List to that sweet, heart-stirring strain
That clear, but martial harmony
It peals above the battle plain
Like music o'er a stormy sea
Soothes the wild waves of fear to rest
And wakes in ev'ry fainting breast
A sudden energy

All the dark pageantry of war
Is fading swiftly from my sight
The clash of arms sound faint & far
Death's wing's spread o'er me the blackest night
Yet still that music floats around
And mingles with its harp-like sound
A more than trumpet night

A flood of light bursts from the skies
While higher swells that symphony
I see the Isles of Paradise
Rise beauteous from a golden sea
And now I feel the fragrant breeze
Borne from sweet Eden's bowers & trees
Which bloom eternally

Bretheren in arms a long farewell
To other brighter scenes I go
Where joys unmixed and endless dwell
And where undying waters flow
There I shall bathe in seas of life
Unharmed by war unvexed by strife
Far from this world of woe