Gettysburg Anthology
GETTYSBURG
ANTHOLOGY
P
english212
Gettysburg Anthology Copyright © 2015
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Contents
Introduction
1
Cha
Chap
pter 1.
Harvest of Death: Gettysburg
7
Cha
Chap
pter 2.
Haskell at Gettysburg: 1863
9
Cha
Chap
pter 3.
Gettysburg
13
Cha
Chap
pter 4.
The Graves of Gettysburg
16
Cha
Chap
pter 5.
At Gettysburg
19
Cha
Chap
pter 6.
Gettysburg
22
Cha
Chap
pter 7.
The Battlefield
24
Cha
Chap
pter 8.
The Wheatfield at Gettysburg
26
Cha
Chap
pter 9.
Bivouac to the Dead
28
Cha
Chap
pter 10.
Gettysburg Ode
32
Cha
Chap
pter 11.
The High Tide at Gettysburg
36
Cha
Chap
pter 12.
The Gallop of Death
40
Cha
Chap
pter 13.
The Grave Beneath the Willow
43
In
Introd
troduc
ucti
tion
on
The Battle of Gettysburg, considered one of the most
significant engagements of the American Civil War, was
fought July 1st-3rd in 1863. The Union and Confederate
Armies, led by Major General George Gordon Meade, and
Robert E. Lee respectively, turned a small town in southern Pennsylvania into the site of one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on North American soil. A total of 170,000
Union and Confederate soldiers converged on Gettysburg, resulting in over 50,000 casualties combined. The
Battle of Gettysburg was Lee’s second attempt at invading
the North. The Confederate Army hoped a victory at Gettysburg would allow them to later threaten surrounding
cities, including Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and
most importantly, Washington D.C. After a crucial victory over Union forces at Chancellorsville, Virginia, Lee
marched his army into Pennsylvania. On July 1st, the
advancing Confederates clashed with the Union Army.
Fighting continued for three days and on the third day the
Confederates suffered a significant setback in the assault
known as “Pickett’s Charge.” Lee was ultimately forced to
withdraw his battered troops back to Virginia. The battle
was a crushing defeat for the Confederacy as Lee lost more
than a third of his army. During the aftermath and for
years afterward, writers tried to capture the significance
of the battle and deal with the loss through their poetry.
This anthology encompasses various portrayals and major
themes related to death.
In light of the war’s destruction, one such common
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theme was the use of natural imagery to represent hope.
“The Grave Beneath the Willow,” published anonymously, uses nature first to establish the setting as the
blooming environment surrounding a dying soldier.
Rather than simply describing wreckage, the weeping willow literally weeps, and evokes feelings of healing and
renewal. “The Grave Beneath the Willow” uses nature to
explore these themes, embodied by the lines“…The ivy and
the roses bloom; the flowery vale is not all gloom.” The
idea of growth points to a broader theme of renewal,
which Civil War era poets flocked to out of hope that the
nation could move beyond the war’s destruction.
However, other poems in the anthology take a different
approach to natural imagery. The majority of the allusions
to nature are made in an attempt to convey the destruction
brought on by the war. In several poems, the massive casualties of both Union and Confederate soldiers are represented through images of a harvest. Historically, this is fitting, as parts of the battle were located on a wheat field. In
“The Wheatfield at Gettysburg,” the author describes soldiers as “living grain” who have been steeped in “pulsing
red”. Not only are the soldiers as quickly dismembered as
a crop in late August, but also the effects of Gettysburg on
the surrounding environment are touched upon. Despite
the renewal of nature, time does not erase the scars of
the battle, as shown by the line,“the wheat forever waves,
peaceful at Gettysburg’s white steeple drones over the
host of graves.”
Laura Redden Searing’s poem “The Graves of Gettysburg” also describes the battle in terms of a harvest,
pointing to another critical theme–the various representations of death. The most prominent of these aspects of
death’s representation are how these writers use ideas like
GETTYSBURG ANTHOLOGY 3
the anonymity and the peace of death as ways to deal with
the sheer number of casualties caused by the battle of Gettysburg. The anonymity assigned to the soldiers of Gettysburg is a result of the large number of casualties. While
Searing more explicitly deals with the soldiers themselves,
she still establishes the setting of the battle as a “yellow
harvest-field”. Similarly to “The Wheatfield”, Searing presents the seemingly endless casualties as a harvest (“cursed
with a crimson yield). The harvest metaphor points to
one of the most disturbing elements of Gettysburg- the
anonymity of the dead, and loss of their identity. No
longer are the dead characterized in terms of their legacies
as individuals.
The poets cannot truly express the meaning of each
person who sacrificed their lives individually, so they must
resort to generalizing them as a nameless entity. However,
these poems justify the namelessness of so many of the
dead by honoring them by granting them peace in death.
In particular, “The Nameless Grave,” another poem published anonymously, states “when the battle smoke has
long since fled;/ and where voiceless lay the fallen dead/ a
nameless grave is seen instead.” While some may view the
anonymity of these soldiers as a tragedy due to their unrewarded sacrifice, the poem justifies this by reassuring the
dead “Rest thee, dear one! Not in vain/ Hath thy life-star
set in pain;/ For thou the holy place shall gain/ The noble
dead alone attain.” The author offers peace to the masses
of slain soldiers as a consolation for the fact that they are
unknown. “The Graves of Gettysburg” also expresses
these sentiments. While the poem never identifies any
individual soldier and rather describing them as a whole
entity, the poet states that “Let us lay them side by side/
In their awful martyr-pride/ They will slumber well and
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sweetly/ And their story shall be told.” Again, this poem is
another example of how Gettysburg poetry uses themes of
anonymity and peace to cope with the mass deaths at the
battle.
The use of natural imagery and other representations
of death emerge again and again in the anthology poems.
Some poets utilize natural imagery to represent hope,
while others use it to signify Gettysburg’s massive atrocities. These writers explore death through a harvest
metaphor, acknowledging the anonymity of the dead, and
recognizing their sacrifice. Gettysburg, an event the
United States’ should never hope to experience again, has
been recorded in history through the work of many American poets.
1
Harv
Harvest
est of
Death:
Gettysbur
Gettysburgg
P
SHEENA BLACKHALL
Sheena B
Bla
lacckhall is a Scottish poet, illustrator, and story-teller
born in 1947. She has been closely affiliated with Aberdeen University since 1998 and is a practicing Buddhist.
Slowly, the mist of morning rose on the silent fields
The sodden dead of armies lay drenched in the rain
Stripped of their shoes which marched away with the living
Some bodies were dumped in the nooks of Devil’s
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Den1.
Wounded lay groaning, too many to count or be cared for
Orchards and woods were raw from the cannons’
firestorm
The roots of the trees, drank blood that drained and
spilled
From bodies smashed to rubble, by fences burning
In the Trostles’ farm, dinner left untouched on the
table2
Belongings looted or trashed…collateral damage
Sixteen dead battery horses stinking out the yard
And over a hundred more across the fields
Acres of wheat and corn, flattened, destroyed
Cows, pigs and chickens carried away as spoils
And 15 barrels of flour unpaid, gone AWOL3
The farmer himself, insane in a world gone mad
And over all, the terrible clusters of flies
1.
Devil’s Den was the name given to a clump of boulders at Gettysburg. It is
the site of Alexander Gardner’s famed photograph “The home of a Rebel
Sharpshooter, Gettysburg”
2. Major General Daniel E. Sickles set up a headquarters at the home of the
Trostle family, forcing them to leave so suddenly that they left their dinners
on the table, uneaten.
3. As was typical, many of the Trostle’s belongings were heavily damaged,
destroyed, or stolen by the soldiers situated in their home. After the war, the
Trostle family never received compensation for this damage.
2
Haskell at
Gettysbur
Gettysburg:
g:
1863
P
GEOFFREY BROCK
1
Geo
eoffr
ffrey
ey Br
Broc
ockk (1964—) is an American poet and translator,
with a Masters in Fine Arts (received from the University of
Florida) and a PhD in Comparative Literature (received from
the University of Pennsylvania). His poems and translations
have been published in a variety of magazines and journals,
including Poetry Magazine and the New England Review, and
1.
Mathew B. Brady took this photo after the Battle of Gettysburg. Hospital
tents are clustered in the right of the photograph, where wounded soldiers
were taken.
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Hospital Tents post Gettysburg Battle
have won multiple awards including the Stegner Fellowship
from Standford University and the Guggenheim Fellowship. His
poem “Haskell2 at Gettsyburg: 1963” was published in volume
36, issue 4 of The Southern Review in 2000, and acts as a poetic
summary of Frank A. Haskell’s famous Battle of Gettysburg accounts.
The summer heat pressed down, despite the gray sky’s
mizzling3 rain. We waited, where hours later the dead
would sprawl in scattered ricks, where the merely
damaged
would wait in line, impatient as bettors at a ticket
office,
for amputations.
Such things I saw. Cords of arms and legs! At every
house
2.
Frank A. Haskell, a Union Army officer during the Civil War who is famous for
writing accounts of the Battle of Gettysburg, which were published after his death
during the Battle of Cold Harbor. The writings are considered “one of the genuine
classics of Civil War literature.”Haskell
3. (adj.)“of rain; falling in fine particles” (Oxford English Dictionary)
GETTYSBURG ANTHOLOGY 11
and barn and shed the wounded lay–gray-haired men,
beardless boys–many pleading for the one panacea,4
many silent, many eagerly polishing stories of victory.
But before all this,
the waiting. To the west, toward the enemy, the
ground
fell away, gently. Beyond the Emmitsburg5 road, it rose
again
to form the ridge dividing us. Between the ridges,
fields of wheat, nearly ripe; waiting corn; a peach
orchard;
houses and pastures.
Surgeons had set up the hospitals, readied the stretchers.
Soldiers loitered. Several I saw curl in the dirt to sleep.
One went for water, wearing twenty canteens like
medals.
Some smoked and some told jokes and some just
blinked.
Until Sickles6 led
his idiot charge: then I swear you could hear the chatter
4.
(n) “A remedy, cure, or medicine reputed to cure all diseases” (Oxford English Dictionary)
5. Emmitsburg, Maryland, a town just south of the Mason Dickson line. During the Civil War, it was fortified by the Union to stop Confederate advancement into northern territory. However, due to a fire started by a Union
sympathizer (known as “The Great Fire”), the Confederates were able to
move North towards Gettysubrg.
6. Daniel E. Sickles, a Union political general, whose military career ended
when, during the Battle of Gettysburg, he moved his Corps into a dangerous
battle position that caused it to be destroyed. He escaped with an amputated
leg and was later awarded a Medal of Honor. During the remainder of his
political career, he attempted to justify his actions during the Battle of Gettysburg as honorable and necessary for the Union’s eventual victory.
12 english212
of a hundred thousand ramrods7 thugging their little
globes
and cones of lead! And then it had begun, then the
long
gray lines came streaming down–rivers of silt spilling
toward a dark blue lake.
7.
(n) “a rod used for ramming down the charge of a muzzle-loaded firearm”
(Oxford English Dictionary)
3
Gettysbur
Gettysburgg
P
LOUISE IMOGEN GUINEY
Herma
erman
n Me
Mellvill
villee (1819-1891) is heralded to this day as one of
America’s greatest writers and poets. Due to advise from his
friends, Melville began writing poetry in 1857 to repair his
finances Due to his authorship of Moby Dick, in conjunction
with the totality of his work, the Library of Congress honored
him as its first writer to collect and publish. His poem “Gettysburg”, was originally published in Battle-Pieces and Aspects of
the War: Civil War Poems, in 1866.
O Pride of the days in prime of the months
Now trebled in great renown,
When before the ark of our holy cause
Fell Dagon1 downDagon foredoomed, who, armed and targed,2
1.
2.
God-King of the land
(Noun) “a small round shield” (American Heritage Dictionary)
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Never his impious heart enlarged
Beyond that hour; God walled his power,
And there the last invader charged.
He charged, and in that charge condensed
His all of hate and all of fire;
He sought to blast us in his scorn,
And wither us in his ire.
Before him went the shriek of shellsAerial screamings, taunts and yells;
Then the three waves in flashed advance
Surged, but were met, and back they set:
Pride was repelled by sterner pride,
And Right is a strong-hold yet.
Before our lines it seemed a beach
Which wild September gales have strown
With havoc on wreck, and dashed therewith
Pale crews unknownMen, arms, and steeds. The evening sun
Died on the face of each lifeless one,
And died along the winding marge of fight
And searching-parties lone.
Sloped on the hill the mounds were green,
Our centre held that place of graves,
And some still hold it in their swoon,3
And over these a glory waves.
The warrior-monument, crashed in fight,
Shall soar transfigured in loftier light,
3.
(noun) “ A state of bewilderment or loss of consciousness” (American Heritage Dictionary)
GETTYSBURG ANTHOLOGY 15
A meaning ampler bear;
Soldier and priest with hymn and prayer
Have laid the stone, and every bone
Shall rest in honor there.
4
The Grav
Graves
es of
Gettysbur
Gettysburgg
P
HOW
HOWARD
ARD GL
GLYNDON
YNDON
“The Graves of Gettysburg” was written by Howa
owarrd Glyn
ynddon,
which was actually a pseudonym for Laura Redden Searing.
Searing interestingly enough was a deaf woman who was unable
to attend college because of her hearing impairment. She was a
very successful writer of her time. This poem was found in HarpWeek Issued September 5th of 1863. Redden wrote the poem just
the month before in Washington.
[National Cemetery at Gettysburg.—Harrisburg,
July 31. Arrangements have been made to purchase a
part of the battle-field at Gettysburg for a cemetery, in
which it is proposed to gather the remains of our dead.
GETTYSBURG ANTHOLOGY 17
The ground embraces the point of the desperate attack
made upon the left centre of our army. Eight other States
have already united with Pennsylvania in this project.]
Let us lay them where they fell,1
When their work was done so well!
Dumb and stricken—leaving others
All the glorious news to tell.
All the yellow harvest-field,
Curséd with a crimson2 yield,
‘Neath the thrusting in of sickles,3
As the battle waxed or reeled!
They, with faces to the foe,
Lost to pain, and peace, and woe;
Armored in the inspiration
Of the old heroic glow:
Rushing grandly unto death!—
Eyes ablaze and ‘bated breath—
Second-sighted for the future—
Here they piled the trampled heath!
Here for Liberty they stood,
Writ their records in their blood,
On the forehead of the epoch,4
In a grand historic mood!
Let us lay them side by side
In their awful martyr-pride:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Soldiers were buried on the battlefield to honor them
“Crimson” refers to the bloodiness of the battles
Agricultural tool that refers to the field at Gettysburg
significant period in history
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They will slumber well and sweetly,
Spite of wailings far and wide.
And their story shall be told
When this Present, gray and old,
Loses each distinctive feature
In the Future’s ample fold.
Well, the work was fitly done!
Well, the day was proudly won!5
But—this nook that bloomed with battle—
There’s no rarer ‘neath the sun!
Let us lay them where they fell,
When their work was done so well!
In the martyr’s noble silence,
Leaving us the tale to tell.
5.
author known to praise the south
5
At Gettysbur
Gettysburgg
P
LOUISE IMOGEN GUINEY
“At Gettysburg” was originally published by Louis
Louisee IIm
mogen
Guin
Guiney
ey (1861-1920), in 1884 as part of her first publication,
Songs at the Start. Ms. Guiney drew much of her inspiration for
“At Gettysburg” along with the rest of the poems in Songs at the
Start from her father Patrick R. Guiney, who served in the
American Civil War as a General for the Union.
Bells of victory are dumb;1
Trailing sword and muffled drum
On we come,
Downcast eyes and broken tread,
Weary arms, and burdenèd
With our dead.
Lives were proffered:2 reck not his;
1.
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/03/07/gettysburg-meetingengagements-tend-to-go-wrong-with-the-enemy-or-with-history/
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6
2.
For dear Freedom’s ransom is
Sacrifice.
Proud our love is, nor at last
With a sorrow that is past
Overcast.
O’er the very clay we bring,
Meet it is that we should sing
Triumphing:
He was foremost, he was leal;3
Let his gallant breast reveal
Honor’s seal.4
Him we yield the Roman crown,
Woven bays; in his renown
Lay him down.
Earth will softest pillow make,5
So that never heart shall ache
For his sake;
Spring will pass here many a day,
Sighing, one with thoughts that pray
Far away,
“When the trumpets shake the sod,
Raise Thy Knight from this dull clod,
Lord our God!”
(verb) “To hold out to someone for acceptance; offer” (Merriam-Webster
Dictionary)
3. (adj) “ Loyal and Honest” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
4. A wound created by a bullet or bayonet. These wounds were looked at as
very honorable as the soldier’s died for an loyal ad honest cause.
5. The land on which a soldier fell and died will become the final and best
resting place for them
6. http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/03/07/gettysburg-meetingengagements-tend-to-go-wrong-with-the-enemy-or-with-history/
GETTYSBURG ANTHOLOGY 21
Photo Taken to Show Aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg
6
Gettysbur
Gettysburgg
P
EUGENE FIELD
Eug
ugen
enee F
Fie
ielld (1850-1895) was an American poet, satirical essayist and journalist known for his whimsical and sentimental style
of writing. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri to native New
Englanders. Field wrote for newspapers in St. Louis, New England, and Chicago. This poem is from a collection of his works
entitled “The poems (1922) by Field, Eugene.”
You wore the blue and I the gray
On this historic field;
And all throughout the dreadful fray
We felt our muscles steeled
For deeds which men may never know,
Nor page of history ever show.
My father, sir, with soul to dare,
Throughout the day and night,
Stood on old Little Round Top there,
GETTYSBURG ANTHOLOGY 23
And watched the changeful fight,
And, with a hoarse, inspiring cry,
Held up the stars and bars1 on high.
At last the flag went down, and then—
Ah, you can guess the rest—
I never saw his face again.
My father’s loyal breast
Is strewn with these sweet flow’rs, I wot,
That seem to love this sacred spot.
The smoke of battle ‘s cleared away,
And all its hatreds, too;
And as I clasp your hand to-day,
O man who wore the blue,
On yonder hill I seem to see
My father smiling down on me.
1.
Vernacular term for the Confederate flag.
7
The Battlefield
P
LLOYD MIFFLIN
Those were the conquered, still too proud to yield –
These were the victors, yet too poor for the shrouds!1
Here scarlet Slaughter slew her countless crowds
Heaped high in ranks where’er the hot guns pealed.
The brooks that wandered through the battlefield
Flowed slowly on in ever-reddening streams;
Here where the rank wheat waves and golden gleams,
The dreadful squadrons,2 thundering, charged and
reeled.
Within the blossoming clover many a bone
Lying unsepulchred,3 has bleached to white;
1.
The white cloth or sheet in which a corpse is laid out for burial; a windingsheet
2. A body of soldiers drawn up or arranged in square formation
3. Having no grave; unburied
GETTYSBURG ANTHOLOGY 25
While gentlest hearts that only love had known,
Have ached with anguish at the awful sight;
And War’s gaunt Vultures that were lean, have grown
Gorged in the darkness in a single night!
8
The Wheatfield
at Gettysbur
Gettysburgg
P
EDW
EDWARD
ARD WILLIAM THOMSON
Edwa
warrd Willia
illiam
m Tho
homs
msoon (1849-1942) was a Canadian
writer and journalist who fought on behalf of Pennsylvania’s 3rd
Cavalry unit in the Civil War at the age of 15. Later in his life, he
would go on to publish a book of poems entitled The Many Mansioned House and Other Poems in 1909 in which he included
“The Wheat Field at Gettysburg”.
These famous acres bear a mystic wheat
That waits the Reaper’s scythe1
Alike in Summer shine and Winter sleet
And when the May is blithe.2
1.
2.
A weapon having a long curving blade resembling a reaping hook
To rejoice, to be merry
GETTYSBURG ANTHOLOGY 27
Here phantom squirrels fenceward haste with grains
Of gleeful-taken toll
From waist-high stalks that hide meandering lanes
Of phantom mouse and mole.
Forever twittering wheat to nesting mate
A spirit oriole cries,
And ghostly bands of plundering crows elate
Caw beneath long-past skies.
In vain did Valor’s fiery onset tread
The actual straw to dust,
And steep the living grain in pulsing red
From bullet and from thrust.
The Field stands wealthy with immortal wheat
Man never reaped for bread,
Touched by funereal zephyrs3passing sweet
Where lay The Nameless Dead.
Imperishably set as Round Top’s stones
The wheat forever waves
Peaceful as Gettysburg’s white steeple drones
Over the host of graves.
3.
A soft mild gentle wind or breeze.
9
Biv
Bivouac
ouac to the
Dead
P
THEODORE O’HARA
“The Bivouac of the Dead”, written in 1847, is the best known of
the works of Theod
heodoore O’
O’H
Hara (1820-1867). He wrote it while
walking in the Frankfort Cemetery following his return from the
Mexican War and it was first read there at the dedication of a
monument in 1850. Although this poem wasn’t written specifically to address the Battle of Gettysburg, 17 tablets have been
erected at Gettysburg to display stanzas of the poem. This poem
is very much a part of remembering the battle of Gettysburg.
The muffled drum’s sad roll has beat
The soldier’s last tattoo;1
No more on life’s parade shall meet
1.
A wound leading to death.
GETTYSBURG ANTHOLOGY 29
The brave and daring few.
On Fame’s eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.
No rumour of the foe’s advance
Now swells upon the wind;
No troubled thought at midnight haunts
Of loved ones left behind;
No vision of the morrow’s strife
The warrior’s dream alarms;
No braying horn nor screaming fife
At dawn shall call to arms.2
Their shivered3 swords are red with 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 their proud forms in battle gashed
Are free from anguish now.
The neighing steed, the flashing blade,
The trumpet’s stirring blast,
The charge, the dreadful cannonade,
The din and shout are past;
No war’s wild note, nor glory’s peal,4
Shall thrill with fierce delight
2.
Neither horn nor any premonition can warn the soldiers to the fight that
will ensue the next day.
3. (noun) “splintered” (Random House Dictionary)
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Those breasts that never more shall feel
The rapture of the fight.
Like the dread northern hurricane
That sweeps this broad plateau,
Flushed with the triumph yet to gain
Came down the serried foe;
Our heros felt the shock, and leapt
To meet them on the plain;
And long the pitying sky hath wept
Above our gallant slain.
Sons of our consecrated ground,
Ye must not slumber there,
Where stranger steps and tongues resound
Along the heedless air.
Your own proud land’s heroic soil
Shall be your fitter grave;5
She claims from War his richest spoil –
The ashes of her brave.
So ‘neath their parent turf they rest,
Far from the gory field;
Borne to a Spartan mother’s breast
On many a bloody shield;
The sunshine of their native sky
Smiles sadly on them here,
And kindred hearts and eyes watch by
The heroes’ sepulcher.6
Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead!
4.
(noun) “a loud repeated or reverberating sound of thunder or laughter”
(Random House Dictionary)
5. The soldiers not from where the battle took place shall be buried where
they are from and where they fought for.
GETTYSBURG ANTHOLOGY 31
Dear as the blood you gave,
No impious footsteps here shall tread
The herbage of your grave;
Nor shall your glory be forgot
While Fame her record keeps,
Or Honor points the hallowed spot
Where Valor proudly sleeps.
Yon marble minstrel’s voiceless stone
In deathless songs shall tell,
When many a vanished age hath flown,
The story how ye fell;
Nor wreck, nor change, or winter’s blight
Not Time’s remorseless doom,
Shall dim one ray of holy light
That gilds your glorious tomb.
6.
(noun) “ A small room or monument, in which a dead person is laid or
buried” (Random House Dictionary)
10
Gettysbur
Gettysburgg Ode
P
BAYARD T
TA
AYLOR
Ba
Bayyard T
Taaylor was born in 1825 in Chester County, Pennsylvania and raised by his Quaker parents. In 1841, While Taylor
was still attending school, his first poem was published in the
Saturday Evening Post, giving him his start as a professional
writer. He continued his career as a speaker and writer until his
death in 1878. His work was very popular during his lifetime but
is often overlooked by contemporary scholars.
After the eyes that looked, the lips that spake
Here, from the shadows of impending death,
Those words of solemn breath,
What voice may fitly break
The silence, doubly hallowed, left by him?
We can but bow the head, with eyes grown dim,
And, as a Nation’s litany, repeat
The phrase his martyrdom hath made complete,
GETTYSBURG ANTHOLOGY 33
Noble as then, but now more sadly sweet:
“Let us, the living, rather dedicate
Ourselves to the unfinished work, which they
Thus far advanced so nobly on its way,
And save the perilled state!
Let us, upon this field where they, the brave,
Their last full measure of devotion gave,
Highly resolve they have not died in vain!—
That, under God, the Nation’s later birth
Of Freedom, and the people’s gain
Of their own Sovereignty, shall never wane
And perish from the circle of the earth!”
From such a perfect text, shall Song aspire
To light her faded fire,
And into wandering music turn
Its virtue, simple, sorrowful, and stern?
His voice all elegies anticipated;
For, whatsoe’er the strain,
We hear that one refrain:
“We consecrate ourselves to them, the Consecrated!”
After the thunder-storm our heaven is blue:
Far off, along the borders of the sky,
In silver folds the clouds of battle lie,
With soft, consoling sunlight shining through;
And round the sweeping circle of your hills
The crashing cannon-thrills
Have faded from the memory of the air;
And Summer pours from unexhausted fountains
Her bliss on yonder mountains:
The camps are tenantless, the breastworks1 bare:
1.
(n) A fieldwork (usually rough and temporary) thrown up a few feet in
height for defence against an enemy (Oxford English Dictionary)
34 english212
Earth keeps no stain where hero-blood was poured:
The hornets, humming on their wings of lead,
Have ceased to sting, their angry swarms are dead,
And, harmless in its scabbard, rusts the sword!
Oh, not till now,—Oh, now we dare, at last,
To give our heroes fitting consecration!
Not till the soreness of the strife is past,
And Peace hath comforted the weary Nation!
So long her sad, indignant spirit held
One keen regret, one throb of pain, unquelled;
So long the land about her feet was waste,
The ashes of the burning lay upon her,
We stood beside their graves with brows abased,
Waiting the purer mood to do them honor!
*
*
*
*
*
And yet, ye Dead!—and yet
Our clouded natures cling to one regret:
We are not all resigned
To yield, with even mind,
Our scarcely risen stars, that here untimely set.
We needs must think of History that waits
For lines that live but in their proud beginning,—
Arrested promises and cheated fates,—
Youth’s boundless venture and its single winning!
We see the ghosts of deeds they might have done,
The phantom homes that beaconed their endeavor;
The seeds of countless lives, in them begun,
That might have multiplied for us forever!
We grudge the better strain of men
That proved itself, and was extinguished then,—
The field, with strength and hope so thickly sown,
Wherefrom no other harvest shall be mown:
For all the land, within its clasping seas,
GETTYSBURG ANTHOLOGY 35
Is poorer now in bravery and beauty,
Such wealth of manly loves and energies
Was given to teach us all the free man’s sacred duty!
11
The High Tide
at Gettysbur
Gettysburgg
P
WILL HENR
HENRY
Y THOMPSON
Will H
Hen
enry
ry T
Tho
homp
mpsson (1848-1918) was an American poet, who
was raised in Georgia and served as a soldier for the Confederate Army alongside his older brother Maurice Thompson. After
the war, he eventually indulged in public speaking, becoming
well-known for his oratory abilities and public renditions of his
poems. He also was able to successfully open a law partnership
with his brother. “The High Tide at Gettysburg” is considered to
be his most well known work, first being published in 1888 in
The Century Magazine. The piece showcases his strong Southern patriotism and his reflections of the Confederate’s actions
during the Battle of Gettysburg and Pickett’s Charge.
A CLOUD possessed the hollow field,
The gathering battle’s smoky shield.
GETTYSBURG ANTHOLOGY 37
Athwart1 the gloom the lightning flashed,
And through the cloud some horsemen dashed,
And from the heights the thunder pealed.
Then at the brief command of Lee
Moved out that matchless infantry,
With Pickett leading grandly down,
To rush against the roaring crown
Of those dread heights of destiny.
Far heard above the angry guns
A cry across the tumult runs,—
The voice that rang through Shiloh’s2 woods
And Chickamauga’s3 solitudes,
The fierce South cheering on her sons!
Ah, how the withering tempest blew
Against the front of Pettigrew4!
A Khamsin5 wind that scorched and singed
Like that infernal flame that fringed
The British squares at Waterloo!
A thousand fell where Kemper6 led;
1.
(adv.) “across from side to side, transversely; usually, but not necessarily, in
an oblique direction” (Oxford English Dictionary)
2. Reference to the Battle of Shiloh (Battle of Pittsburg Landing), a major battle in the Civil War along the Western Front, fought from April 6-8 1862, in
southern Tennessee. It was considered the bloodiest battle in American history at the time, until it was beaten by the Battle of Gettysburg the following
year.
3. Battle of Chickamauga, a major battle fought from September 19-20, 1863.
It was considered one of Union Army’s greatest defeats during the war, and
marked the end of their campaign in southern Tennessee.
4. J. Johnston Pettigrew, a Confederate general and author, who was a primary leader during Pickett’s Charge, which ended in disaster for his army. He
was later wounded retreating from the Battle of Gettysburg.
5. A dry, hot local wind that blows from the south in North Africa and Arabia. Derived from the Arabic word for “fifty,” the winds blow for approximately fifty days.
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A thousand died where Garnett7 bled:
In blinding flame and strangling smoke
The remnant through the batteries broke
And crossed the works with Armistead.
“Once more in Glory’s van with me!”
Virginia cried to Tennessee;
“We two together, come what may,
Shall stand upon these works to-day!”
(The reddest day in history.)
Brave Tennessee! In reckless way
Virginia heard her comrade say:
“Close round this rent and riddled rag!”
What time she set her battle-flag
Amid the guns of Doubleday8.
But who shall break the guards that wait
Before the awful face of Fate?
The tattered standards of the South
Were shriveled at the cannon’s mouth,
And all her hopes were desolate.
In vain the Tennesseean set
His breast against the bayonet!
In vain Virginia charged and raged,
A tigress in her wrath uncaged,
Till all the hill was red and wet!
Above the bayonets, mixed and crossed,
Men saw a gray, gigantic ghost
6.
James L. Kemper, one of the youngest Confederate generals, who helped to
lead Pickett’s Charge but was severely wounded and captured.
7. Richard Brooke Garnett, a U.S. Army general and later Confederate general, who helped to lead Pickett’s charge, but was killed during the battle.
8. Abner Doubleday, a U.S. officer and Union general, who first fought at the
battle at Fort Sumter and later played a pivotal role in fighting the Battle of
Gettysburg.
GETTYSBURG ANTHOLOGY 39
Receding through the battle-could,
And heard across the tempest loud
The death-cry of a nation lost!
The brave went down! Without disgrace
They leaped to Ruin’s red embrace.
They only heard Fame’s thunders wake,
And saw the dazzling sun-burst break
In smiles on Glory’s bloody face!
They fell, who lifted up a hand
And bade the sun in heaven to stand!
They smote and fell, who set the bars
Against the progress of the stars,
And stayed the march of Motherland!
They stood, who saw the future come
On through the fight’s delirium!
They smote and stood, who held the hope
Of nations on that slippery slope
Amid the cheers of Christendom.
God lives! He forged the iron will
That clutched and held that trembling hill.
God lives and reigns! He built and lent
The heights for Freedom’s battlement
Where floats her flag in triumph still!
Fold up the banners! Smelt the guns!
Love rules. Her gentler purpose runs.
A mighty mother turns in tears
The pages of her battle years,
Lamenting all her fallen sons!
12
The Gallop of
Death
P
UNKNOWN
This poem was published in Harper’s Weekly in November of
1863. The author is unknown.
Tan-ta-ra, tan-ta-ra, tan-ta-ra, tan-ta-ra!
“Boots and saddles!-quick, quick! Now mount and
away!
Look sharp and ride fast; that’s the word. Hip, hurrah!
We must catch them asleep at the dawning of day!”
Now they noisily dash through the rippling stream,
Now silently gallop along the soft sand;
Then off with a bound through the woods, where no
gleam
GETTYSBURG ANTHOLOGY 41
Of star-light shines through, rides the brave, gallant
band!
“Now slowly and steadily. Hist!1—not a word!”—
‘Tis the sentinel sleepily pacing his beat.
The murderous swish of a sabre is heard,
And he falls with a groan at the first horse’s feet.
“Draw sabre! Now charge, boys! No powder to-night!”
Rings the voice of the chief, while the loud bugles blare
‘Mid the clashing of swords, striking flashes of light,
And the fierce victor-shouts, and the yells of despair.
*******
‘Twas a brave work done by that gallant band;
Let their praises be sounded on every breath
Of wind that blows o’er our glorious land!
And this be the song of the Gallop of Death:
Tan-ta-ra-ta!
Hip, hip—hurrah!
‘Tis the bugle’s stirring call:
Mount, boys, mount,
And never count
What will be your chance to fall.
On, boys, on, till the morning sun
Gleams on our flag, and the vict’ry’s won!
It matters not.
If a rebel shot
1.
(exclam) Used to urge on a dog or other animal (Oxford English Dictionary)
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Put an end to our fleeting breath—
Ride, boys, ride,
And luck betide
Those who ride the Gallop of Death!
On, boys, on, till the morning sun
Gleams on our flag, and the vict’ry’s won!
With ringing clash,
And lightning flash,
We’ll strike a righteous blow;
And let the shout
Ring loudly out,
As we smite the traitors low.
On, boys, on, till the morning sun
Gleams on our flag, and the vict’ry’s won!
And when ’tis done,
And the vict’ry won,
We’ll gayly march to camp;
And joyous song,
As we ride along,
Keep time to our horses’ tramp2.
On, boys, on, and the morning sun
Will smile on us and the brave work done!
2.
(n.) The measured and continuous tread of a body of persons or animals;
hence, the sound of heavy footfalls. (Oxford English Dictionary)
13
The Grav
Gravee
Beneath the
Willow
P
UNKNOWN
1
“The Grave Beneath the Willow” was first released in midJanuary of 1863 in Harper’s Weekly newspaper. It reflects upon
the brutal deaths of soldiers during the Civil War and the
impacts these deaths had on the surrounding nature. Within the
same issue, there was a significant amount of coverage of the
1.
http://www.tvigh.org/gettysburg3.html
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Fallen Soldiers After the Long Battle
1863 Emancipation Proclamation, in addition to a variety of
other war updates. The author of the poem is unknown.
[Far away, upon the banks of the Mississippi, a soldier
pitched his tent by night, died at the dawn of morning,
and is buried beneath the weeping willow, to await the
morning réveille2 of the eternal day. These verses,
taken
from our port-folio of months past, are dedicated to his
memory.—M.]
Hard by the river’s winding way,
Beneath au aged weeping willow,
Pendent o’er the foaming billow,
Where the breath of blossoms blended,
And the songs of birds ascended;
Just as rising day was dawning,
2.
(n, French) “ a signal indicating that it is time to wake up or get up; a signal
used to wake up army personnel in the armed forces, typically sounded on
the bugle or drums” (Oxford English Dictionary)
GETTYSBURG ANTHOLOGY 45
And the east winds fanned the morning,
Death came rapping,
Softly tapping,
Tapping at the soldier’s door—
The weary soldier’s door.
Said he, “I’ve wandered sad and lonely,
Through the night-winds dark and dreary;
Am like yourself—a soldier weary
Of my marching—let us shelter
In this silent vale together:
Let me place my icy fingers
Where thy life-spark warmest lingers.”
And then a death-dart
Touched a brave heart,
Silent now to move no more—
Never any more!
Now the willow, and the lilies,
And the eglantine3 are weeping,
Weeping o’er the soldier sleeping,
Sleeping where no cannon’s rattle,
Nor the angry storm of battle,
Can awake him any more!
Nor doth again tap at the door.
The resting stranger,
Freed from danger,
Soundly sleeps beneath the willow—
The hoary, weeping willow!
Around the grave beneath the willow
The ivy and the roses bloom;
The flowery vale is not all gloom;
For weary on their little wing,
3.
a type of briar rose or sweetbriar, typically a light shade of pink
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The birds light on the boughs to sing;
And every soft and warbling strain
Tells that the dead shall rise again;
And the soldier’s brow,
That slumbers now,
Shall wear rich laurels pure and bright,Graves of the
Fallen Soldiers After the Battle
In the Elysian4fields of light!
4.
Reference to Elysium, a realm of eternal peace and happiness in the
Underworld, according to Greek mythology.