The Blue And The Gray
By Francis Miles Finch (1827
- 1907) |
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By the flow of the inland river,
Whence the fleets of
iron have fled,
Where the blades of the grave-grass quiver,
Asleep on
the ranks of the dead;
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the
judgment day;
Under the one, the Blue;
Under the other, the Gray.
These in the robings of glory,
Those in the gloom of defeat;
All
with the battle-blood gory,
In the dusk of eternity meet;
Under the
sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment day;
Under the laurel, the
Blue;
Under the willow, the Gray.
From the silence of sorrowful
hours,
The desolate mourners go,
Lovingly laden with flowers,
Alike for the friend and the foe;
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting
the judgment day;
Under the roses, the Blue;
Under the lilies, the
Gray.
So, with an equal splendor,
The morning sun-rays fall,
With a touch impartially tender,
On the blossoms blooming for all;
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment day;
Broidered with
gold, the Blue;
Mellowed with gold, the Gray.
So, when the summer
calleth,
On forest and field of grain,
With an equal murmur falleth
The cooling drip of the rain;
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the
judgment day;
Wet with the rain, the Blue;
Wet with the rain, the
Gray.
Sadly, but not with upbraiding,
The generous deed was done;
In the storm of the years that are fading,
No braver battle was won;
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment day;
Under the
blossoms, the Blue;
Under the garlands, the Gray.
No more shall
the war-cry sever,
Or the winding rivers be red;
They banish our
anger forever,
When they laurel the graves of our dead.
Under the sod
and the dew,
Waiting the judgment day;
Love and tears for the Blue;
Tears and love for the Gray. |
By
Francis Miles Finch (1827 - 1907)
Listed September 6, 2012Note:
1861-1865
The women of Columbus, Mississippi, had shown
themselves
impartial in the offerings made to the
memory of the dead. They strewed
flowers alike
on the graves of the Confederate and of the
National
soldiers.
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