DONE are the toils and the wearisome marches, <br />Done is the summons of bugle and drum. <br />Softly and sweetly the sky overarches, <br />Shelt'ring a land where Rebellion is dumb. <br />Dark were the days of the country's derangement, <br />Sad were the hours when the conflict was on, <br />But through the gloom of fraternal estrangement <br />God sent his light, and we welcome the dawn. <br />O'er the expanse of our mighty dominions, <br />Sweeping away to the uttermost parts, <br />Peace, the wide-flying, on untiring pinions, <br />Bringeth her message of joy to our hearts. <br /> <br />Ah, but this joy which our minds cannot measure, <br />What did it cost for our fathers to gain! <br />Bought at the price of the heart's dearest treasure, <br />Born out of travail and sorrow and pain; <br />Born in the battle where fleet Death was flying, <br />Slaying with sabre-stroke bloody and fell; <br />Born where the heroes and martyrs were dying, <br />Torn by the fury of bullet and shell. <br />Ah, but the day is past: silent the rattle, <br />And the confusion that followed the fight. <br />Peace to the heroes who died in the battle, <br />Martyrs to truth and the crowning of Right! <br /> <br />Out of the blood of a conflict fraternal, <br />Out of the dust and the dimness of death, <br />Burst into blossoms of glory eternal <br />Flowers that sweeten the world with their breath. <br />Flowers of charity, peace, and devotion <br />Bloom in the hearts that are empty of strife; <br />Love that is boundless and broad as the ocean <br />Leaps into beauty and fullness of life. <br />So, with the singing of paeans and chorals, <br />And with the flag flashing high in the sun, <br />Place on the graves of our heroes the laurels <br />Which their unfaltering valor has won!<br /><br />Paul Laurence Dunbar<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ode-for-memorial-day/
