'A soldier of the Union mustered out,' <br />Is the inscription on an unknown grave <br />At Newport News, beside the salt-sea wave, <br />Nameless and dateless; sentinel or scout <br />Shot down in skirmish, or disastrous rout <br />Of battle, when the loud artillery drave <br />Its iron wedges through the ranks of brave <br />And doomed battalions, storming the redoubt. <br />Thou unknown hero sleeping by the sea <br />In thy forgotten grave! with secret shame <br />I feel my pulses beat, my forehead burn, <br />When I remember thou hast given for me <br />All that thou hadst, thy life, thy very name, <br />And I can give thee nothing in return.<br /><br />Henry Wadsworth Longfellow<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-nameless-grave/
