PRO PATRIA
IN MEMORY OF A FAITHFUL CHAPLAIN[1]
I
Erewhile I sang the praise of them whose lustrous names
Flashed in war's dreadful flames;
Who rose in glory, and in splendor, and in might
To fame's sequestered hight.
II
Honor to all, for each his honors meekly carried,
Nor e'er the conquered harried;
All honor, for they sought alone to serve the state—
Not merely to be great.
III
Yes, while the glorious past our grateful memory craves,
And while yon bright flag waves,
Lincoln, Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, the peerless four,
Shall live for evermore;
IV
Shall shine the eternal stars of stern and loyal love,
All other stars above;
The imperial nation they made one, at last, and free,
Their monument shall be.
V
Ah, yes! but ne'er may we forget the praise to sound
Of the brave souls that found
Death in the myriad ranks, 'mid blood, and groans, and stenches—
Tombs in the abhorrèd trenches.
- ↑ Chaplain William Henry Gilder, of the 40th New York Volunteers, died at Bradley Station, Virginia, in April, 1864, of smallpox caught while in attendance upon the regimental hospital.
