Show affie m ki 14 e and the gra q in ue of the bead if on I 1 V t 14 VM A ap 4 V I 1 M q MON M 2 al 1 r 1 0 fall A 11 1 1 v ks wei R mo 1 t 1 alz ant M e W monument to the unknown CM civi I 1 Var Ded cemetery by ELMO SCOTT WATSON HIS la Is the story ot 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 iv told as may 30 approaches for that date Is memorial day on february 11 1820 a son was born to kane Ol allara lara an y 1 irish political refugee i who was living in danville Dany Danyl ille lle in the bluegrass region of Kin kentucky tucky the boy was named theodore ohara and when the war with mexico be began an lie he was a captain cantal a in the united states army bythe by tibe the war had ended he came back to the bluegrass a major there were other kentuckians Kentuck lans ians who came back also to rest in the soil of their native state when they were burled 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 com rides it was THE BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD the muffled drums sad roll has beat the soldiers last tattoo no more on lifes parade shall meet that brave and fallen fw few on oil fames eternal camping g ground round their silent tents are spread and ail glory guards with solemn round 1 I he bivouac of the dead K N rumor of the foes advance ipa owA swells wells upon the wind no troubled thou thought lit at midnight hau haunts tits of loved ones left behind not ku islon of the morrows strife 1 e warriors dream alarms no braying i horn nor screaming fife A i dawn shall tall call to arms their hl vered swords are red with rusts rust ill ir r plumed heads are bowed their haughty aughty li banner trailed in dust Is ii nw w their martial shroud and funeral teats tears have hare washed tbt alir red stains from each brow and tw 1 lo 10 proud forms by battle gashed are free from anguish now the nel weighing neighing neigh hing ing troop the flashing blade the bugles stirring blast the charge the dreadful cannonade the din and shout are past nor wars wild note nor glorys peal shall thrill pith fierce delight those breasts that nevermore may feel the rapture of the fight like the fierce northern hurricane that sweeps his great plateau flushed with the triumph yet to gain came down the serried foe who heard beard 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 0 spain and still the storm of battle blew still swelled the gory title tide not kot long our stout old chieftain knew such odds his strength could bide in that hour his stern command called to a martyrs grave the flower of his fits beloved land la nd the nations flag to save by rivers of thear fathers fathe ri goro gore ills ilia first born laurels grew and well he deemed the sons would would pour their lives for glory too full many a breath has swept oer Ango angosturas plain and long the pitying sky has wept above the moldering slata slain the ravens scream or aag eagles agles flight or shepherds pensive lay alone awakes each sullen height that frowned oer that dread tray fray sons of the dark and bloody ground ye must not ailt slumber there where stranger steps and tongues resound along the heedless air your own proud lands heroic soil A shall be your fitter grave she claims from war ills his richest spoil the ashes of her brave I 1 thus neath their parent turf they rest far from the gory field borne to a spartan mothers breast on many a bloody shield the of their native sy sky smiles sadly on them here X P e tt 40 I 1 it L 4 francis miles tinch and L indred lindred eyes and hearts watch by the heroes sepulcher rest best on embalmed embalm ed and sainted dead dear as the blood ye gave N no impious footstep here shall tread the herbage of your grave nor shall your glory bo be forgot while fame her record keeps or honor points the hallowed spot where valor proudly sleeps yon marble minstrels voiceless stone in deathless song shall tell when many a vanquished age hath flown the story how e fell nor wreck nor change nor winters blight nor times remorseless doom shall dim one ray of glorys light that gilds your deathless tomb when in the spring of the drums began beating the long roll again ohara cast his lot with the south lie ile served until the end of the war engaged in business at columbus ga then retired to a plantation in alabama where lie he died june 7 1807 in the kentucky legislature voted an appropriation lotring to bring tring the body of her soldier poet back to the bluegrass the next nest year they burled him with military honors la in commonwealth mon wealth cc cemetery in frankfort ue ile rests there beside his fellow soldiers tor for whom he wrote the cidern poem that has haa bec become olife world famous and which has been called the perfect requiem of four wars theodore kollaras Ol laras the bivouac ot of the dead perfect requiem ot of tour four wars though OH boharas aras poem was it remained for another to become more particularly associated with the memorial day observance which grew out of the conflict of 05 ia 1805 the women of columbus ga decorated the graves of their war dead and the following january the members of the ladles ladies ald aid society there decided to perpetuate the custom they pic picked liea li ea upon upon april 20 as the date dale tor for their memorial day celebration so they held their memorial services in the cemetery on that date and decorated riot not only the graves of thoi the confederate war dead but also those of some union soldiers burled there the nek next ii spring there appeared in a new york newspaper paper ba a brief paragraph which stated that th at the wamen women of columbus miss have shown themselves impartial in their offerings made to the memory odthe dead they strewed flowers allice alike on the graves ot of the confederate and of the national soldiers at that time a young man named francis miles mach finch was practicing law in ithaca N Y norn born in 1827 he had bad been graduated from yale boharas OH aras tomb in 1819 1849 and as class poet had delivered a memorable poem at the commencement exercises when he read the newspaper item about the tha action of the walien wo men in columbus miss francis uiles lilies finch the lawyer became francis miles finch the poet again and in there appeared in the atlantic monthly this poem THE BLUE AND THE GRAY by the flow ot 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 walting waiting the judgment day under the one the blue under the other the gray cray these la in the robin gs ot of glory those in the gloom of defeat all with the batt battle leblo blood od gory in the dusk ot of eternity meet under the sod and the dew dev waiting the judgment rudiment day under the laurel the blue under the willow the gray from the silence os of sorrowful houra the desolate mourners go lovingly laden with flowers alike for the friend and the fool toa under the sod and the dew walting waiting the judgment day under the roses the blue under the lilies the gray cray J ji I 1 so with an equal splendor the morning sun rays fall with a touch impartially tender on the blossoms blooming for all alls under the sod and the dew waiting the judgment day Eroid Brol ered dered with gold the blue mellowed with gold the gray cray so when the summer cal calleta leth on forest and field of grain with an equal murmur falleth falleta the cooling drip of the rain under the hie sod and the dew waiting the jud judgment inen tda day wet with the rain the blue wet with the rain the gray sadly but riot 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 and the dew daw waiting the judgment day under the blossoms the blue under the garlands garlan ds the gray I 1 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 this poem became instantly popular it was reprinted in hundreds of newspapers throughout the land it was set to music and su sung 1 ng as a patriotic hymn A famous anthology of american poetry calls it a national classic in later years finch became a justice of tho the new york court of appeals helped organize cornell university was ii a member of oe its first board of trustees become dean of its law school in 1892 1802 and held other positions of honor and trust until his fits deith death in 1007 1907 but america does docs not remember the famous jurist and educator neatly so well as as it remembers the man whose poetic message of reconciliation helped reunite a nation and heal beat the wounds of 0 a great war 0 ly by western newspaper union |