136
GRANT
Where crag and cliff and forest meet
In awful solitude,
In awful solitude,
It saw strange, sombre pennants float,
Black shadows on the summer breeze
That bore, from shore to shore, the wail
Of solemn symphonies.
Black shadows on the summer breeze
That bore, from shore to shore, the wail
Of solemn symphonies.
It saw long files of armèd men,
Clad in a garb of faded blue,
Pass.up and down the sorrowing land
As if in grand review.
Clad in a garb of faded blue,
Pass.up and down the sorrowing land
As if in grand review.
It saw through crowded city streets,
Funereal trains move to and fro,
With tolling bells, and muffled drums,
And trumpets wailing low.
Funereal trains move to and fro,
With tolling bells, and muffled drums,
And trumpets wailing low.
Descending then the angel sought
A stern, sad man of many cares—
Ah, oft before have mortals talked
With angels, unawares!
A stern, sad man of many cares—
Ah, oft before have mortals talked
With angels, unawares!
The angel spake, as man to man—
"What does it mean, O friend?" it cried,
"These sad-browed hosts, these weeds of woe,
This mourning far and wide?"
"What does it mean, O friend?" it cried,
"These sad-browed hosts, these weeds of woe,
This mourning far and wide?"
The stranger answered in amaze—
"Know you not what the whole world knows?
To his long home, thus grandly borne,
Earth's greatest warrior goes.
"Know you not what the whole world knows?
To his long home, thus grandly borne,
Earth's greatest warrior goes.
"The foremost soldier of his age,
The victor on full many a field—
Who saw the bravest of the brave
To his stern prowess yield."
The victor on full many a field—
Who saw the bravest of the brave
To his stern prowess yield."
