Dirge for Two Veterens
By Walt Whitman
THE last sunbeam
Lightly falls from the finish'd Sabbath,
On the pavement here, and there beyond it is looking,
Down a new-made double grave.
Lo, the moon ascending,
Up from the east the silvery round moon,
Beautiful over the house-tops, ghastly, phantom moon,
Immense and silent moon.
I see a sad procession,
And I hear the sound of coming full-key'd bugles,
All the channels of the city streets they're flooding,
As with voices and with tears.
I hear the great drums pounding,
And the small drums steady whirring,
And every blow of the great convulsive drums,
Strikes me through and through.
For the son is brought with the father,
(In the foremost ranks of the fierce assault they fell,
Two veterans son and father dropt together,
And the double grave awaits them.)
Now nearer blow the bugles,
And the drums strike more convulsive,
And the daylight o'er the pavement quite has faded,
And the strong dead-march enwraps me.
In the eastern sky up-buoying,
The sorrowful vast phantom moves illumin'd,
('Tis some mother's large transparent face,
In heaven brighter growing.)
O strong dead-march you please me!
O moon immense with your silvery face you soothe me!
O my soldiers twain! O my veterans passing to burial!
What I have I also give you.
The moon gives you light,
And the bugles and the drums give you music,
And my heart, O my soldiers, my veterans,
My heart gives you love.
24 comments:
Happy Memorial Day, Kathy.
You Americans are such show offs with your big occassions.
Do you want to know what our thing is for Anzac Day?
It's..
With the going down of the sun
And in the morning
We shall remember them
Lest we forget
See, it's straight to the point?
Kidding. I did enjoy that one. It tells a story. It puts you there. It makes you think and feel, and I guess that is the point.
Poignant.
This is beautiful.
Happy memorial Day.
I think Laoch of Chicago is on a one-word-comment trend! Love it! That's totally something I would do.
Thanks for posting this poem. It's thoughtful and beautiful.
LOVELY! Happy Memorial Day!
Nice. Love MOM Hello Gibby
I miss the good old days when I got this day off.
This poem is perfect for today.
Hope you have a lovely day!
Very appropriate for today! Happy Memorial Day!!
What a beautiful poem! Happy Memorial Day!
Beautiful, Kathy! Happy Memorial Day!
Have a great Memorial Day. Thanks for sharing.
Great poem. It's important to remember the reason today is a National Holiday!
what a great tribute for the day.
Wait today isn't about picnics, watermelon, grilling, and having the day off? I could have swor- Ooooh, Memorial Day is in May. Gottcha! Have a great day! Thanks for posting this!
Beautiful.
Happy Memorial Day. I told my husband this and he thought that I wanted something. I was all, "can't I just be nice?" and he paused and then went, "What do you want?" Hmph.
Whitman...one of my favorites and haven't read this in ages. Hope today was fabulous...full of good family fun!
Beautiful! Happy Memorial Day!~
Thanks so much for posting this. I had to work today and feel like I sortof missed out on the importance of this day or any festivities but this little bit of honoring was the perfect touch to the end of a long day.
Sometimes we lose the true meaning behind the holidays we are celebrating. Thanks for posting this.
Hello Anon Mom, hope you had a great weekend.
Kathy, I really loved this very poignant poem. Thank you for sharing it with us to remind us what it's all about:) Hope you had a wonderful weekend!
I love Walt Whitman.
Loverley. Hadn't read this one of his before. Thanks!
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