Show A r affie blue and the graif gra in lei affie biair pe ir AK bivouac of ake e bead B 0 6 N i til 4 N li 74 theodore t otje unknown Civil WarDe T by ELMO SCOTT WATSON UIS Is the story of two men a southerner and a northerner it Is also the story of the two poems they wrote it Is a tale that can well be told as may SO 30 approaches for that date Is memorial day on february 11 1820 0 a son w was s born to kane ohara an irish political refugee who was living in danville in the bluegrass region of kentucky the boy was named theodore ohara and when the war with mexico began he was a captain in the united states army by the time the war had ended he came back to the bluegrass a major there were other kentuckians Kentuck ians who came back also to rest in the soil of their native state when they were burled buried at frankfort major ohara standing on a grassy hillside in the midst of a great crowd recited a poem which he had written in tribute to his fallen comrades it wast was THE BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD the muffled drums sad roll has beat the sold soldiers lers last tattoo i no more on lifes parade shall meet that brave and fallen few on camies eternal camping ground their silent tents are spread and glory guards with solemn round the bivouac of the dead no rumor of the foes advance now swells upon the wind no troubled thought at midnight haunts baunta of loved ones left behind no vision of the morrows strife the warr warriors lors dream alarms no braying horn nor screaming fife at dawn shall call to arms their shivered swords are red with wet rust their plumed heads are bowed their haughty banner trailed in dust Is now their martial shroud and plenteous funeral tears have washed the red stains from each brow and the proud forms by battle gashed are free from anguish now the neighing weighing neigh ing troop the flashing blade the bugles stirring blast the charge the dreadful cannonade cann the din and shout are past nor wars wild note nor glorys pe peal shall thrill with fierce delight those breasts that nevermore may feel fed the rapture of the fight like the fierce northern hurricane that sweeps his great plateau flushed with the triumph yet to rein gain came down the serried toe foe who heard the thunder of the tray fray break oer the field beneath knew well the watchword of that day was victory or death long had bad the doubtful conflict raged oer all that stricken plain for never fiercer fight had waged the vengeful blood of spain and still the storm of battle blew still SOU swelled the gory tide not long our stout old chieftain knew such odds his bis strength could bide in that hour his bis stern command called to a martyrs grave the flower of hla his beloved land the nat nations lons flag to save by rivers of their fathers gore hla 1113 first born laurels grew and well he deemed the sons would poor their lives for glory too full many a breath has swept oer angosturas Angostura Ango ls plain and long the pitying sky has wept above the moldering slain the ravens scream or eagles flight or shepherds pensive lay alone awakes each sullen height that trow nel oer that dread fray sons of the dark and bloody ground ye te must not slumber there where stranger steps and tongues resound along the heedless air your four own proud lands heroic soil shall be your fitter grave she claims frova from war his richest spoil the ashes of her brave thus neata their parent turf they rest far from the gory field borne bome to a spartan mot mothers motters bers breast on oil many a bloody shield the sunshine of their native sky smiles sadly on them here e 0 A aw V 4 4 francis miles finch and kindred eyes and hearts watch by the heroes sepulcher rest on embalm ed and sainted fainted dead dear as the blood ye gave no impious footstep here shall tread the herbage of 0 your grave nor shall your glory be forgot while fame her record keeps or honor points the ball hallowed owed spot where valor proudly sleeps you ton marble minstrels voiceless stone in deathless song shall tell when many a vanquished age hath bath nova alowa the story how e fell nor wreck nor change nor winters might blight nor times remorseless doom shall dim one ray of glorys light that gilds your deathless tomb when la in the spring of 1861 the drums began beating the long roll again ohara cast his lot with the south lie he served until the end ot of the war engaged in business at columbus ga then retired to a plantation in alabama where he died june 7 in 1873 the kentucky legislature voted an appropriation to bring the body of her soldier poet back to the bluegrass the next year they burled him with military honors in commonwealth mon wealth cemetery in Frankf frankfort orL lie he rests there beside beside his fellow soldiers tor for whom he wrote the poem that has become world famous and which has been called the perfect requiem of tour four wars theodore boharas OH aras the bivouac of the dead perfect erfe ct requiem of 0 f tour 0 ur wars though though boharas OH a aras poem was it remained tor for another to become more particularly associated with the memorial day observance which grew out of the conflict of 1861 CZ 65 in iff the women of columbus ga decorated the graves of their war dead and the following january the members of the ladles ladies aid society there decided to perpetuate the custom they picked upon april 28 26 as the date for their memorial day celebration so they held their memorial services in the cemetery on that date and decorated not only the graves of the confederate war dead but also those of some union soldiers burled buried there the next spring there appeared in a new york newspaper a brief paragraph which stated that the women of columbus columbu miss have shown themselves impartial in their offerings made to the memory of the dead they strewed flowers alike on the graves of the confederate and of the national sold soldiers lem at that time a young man named francis miles finch was practicing law in ithaca N Y born in 1827 lie he bad been graduated from yale boharas OH Oha aras rals tomb in 1849 and as class poet poel had delivered a memorable poem at the commencement exercises when he read the newspaper item about the action of the women omen A in columbus miss francis miles lilies finch the lawyer became francis miles F inch finch the po poet et again and in there appeared in the atlantic monthly this poem THE BLUE AND THE GRAY by the low 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 deada x under the sod and the dew walting waiting the judgment day under the te one the blue under the other the gray these in the of glory those in the gloom of defeat all with the battle blood gory in the dusk of eternity meets 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 flower alike alak e for the friend and the toe foe under the sod and the dew waiting the judgment day under the roses the blue under the ulles lilies the gray so with an equal splendor the morning sun rays tall fall with a touch impartially tender on the blossoms blooming for all under the sod and the dew waiting the judgment day Brol dered with gold the blue mellowed with gold the gray I 1 so bo when the summer calleta cal leth 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 dome 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 clue 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 ghares of our dead under the sod and the he dew walting waiting the judgment day love and tears for the blue tears and love tor for the gray this poem became instantly popular it was reprinted in hundreds of newspapers throughout the land it was set to music and sung as a patriotic hymn A famous anthology of american poetry calls it a national classic in later years finch became a justice of the new york court of appeals helped organize cornell university was a member of its first board of trustees became dean of its law school in 1802 1892 and held other positions of honor and trust until his death in 1907 1007 but america does not remember the famous jurist and educator nearly so well as it remembers the man mail whose poetic message of reconciliation helped reunite a nation and heal the wounds of a great war 0 by 17 western newspaper union |