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Show v - - - IN MEMORIA AEJERNA. MAY 30, 1908. (Written for the Intermountain Catholic.) At quivering dawn the perfumed breeze Stirs in the tops of the greenwood trees, And kisses the Flag at break of day, While the cannon roar and trumpets bray; And bells in the holy fane are rung. And Requiem Mass for the dead is sung. This is the day of the Nation's "Dead. When a mourning nation bows her head, (Proudest of Nations under-the sun) Weeps for her heroes whose race is run, Weeps for the warriors, brave and true, Sleeping beneath the cypress and yew. The flag that he loved graces the head Of each sleeping soldier's turf-crowned bed. .And bright-hewed blossoms on breast and feet Fill the mild air with their fragrance sweet; And the rustling breeze in the greenwood trees Blends with the drowsy hum of -the bees. The years roll on, and the years glide by, But never can deeds of heroes die; And never blow struck for Truth and' Right But shall live forever in fadeless light; And they who have bled for Country's fame Have won for themselves a deathless name. Charles Henry Stevenson. |