Tenderly bury the fair young dead,
Pausing to drop on his grave a tear;
Carve on the wooden slab o er his head,
"Somebody s darling slumbers here."
CAROLINE AUGUSTA BALL
[Caroline A. Ball was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1823. She spent the early years of her life in the North, but in her young womanhood she returned to Charleston. Here she married Mr. Isaac Ball and bore a conspicuous part in the social life of Charleston. She published in 1 866 her small volume of poetry under the title "The Jacket of Gray, and Other Poems."]
THE JACKET OF GRAY
Fold it up carefully, lay it aside, Tenderly touch it, look on it with pride; For dear must it be to our hearts evermore, The jacket of gray our loved soldier boy wore. Can we ever forget when he joined the brave band, Who rose in defense of dear Southern land; And in his bright youth hurried on to the fray; How proudly he donned it, the jacket of gray? His fond mother blessed him and looked up above, Commending to Heaven the child of her love; What anguish was hers mortal tongue may not say, When he passed from- her sight in the jacket of gray. But her country had called him, she would not repine, Though costly the sacrifice placed on its shrine; Her heart s dearest hopes on its altar she lay, When she sent out her boy in his jacket of gray 1
