Sunday, May 29, 2011

The Blue Against The Gray - A Poem


















My high school and Face Book friend, Patricia McCollough Walston, a journalist and author, is posting a series of poems in examiner.com this weekend.   One was from the Revolutionary War and this one from the Civil War.  I really like this and since I am a Civil War buff, and thought I would pass it along to you, my peeps.

Civil War Poem:  The Blue and The Gray
Francis Miles Finch (1827-1907)

By the flow of the inland river,
  • Whence the fleets of iron have fled,
  • Where the blades of the grave-grass quiver,
  • Asleep are 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 judgement-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 judgement-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 adn 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. 
Remember what the 30 of May is all about while you are having fun at the lake or in the backyard bar-b-quing.  The fallen deserve a moment of quiet, an offer of thanks for all they did, and a feeling of respect for their sacrifice.

About the author of “The Blue and the Gray!”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Miles_Finch

And thank you, Pat.


1 comment:

Mike Golch said...

Cool,Thanks for sharing