Poems (Laflin)/The Veteran's Reverie

by Ellen P. Laflin

THE VETERAN'S REVERIE.

AS I gaze into the glimmering flames
 A vision sweet in their light I see,
'Tis the memory of a fair young face
 Which the passage of years divides from me.

Ah! yes, 'twas fifty years ago,
 My hair was brown above the brow;
My hand was as strong as iron then,
 Though it trembles feebly now.

Ah! Margaret, your hair was gold,
 Your eyes two sparks of heaven's blue,
In all the Southland's sunny plain,
 Ne'er was there such a maid as you.

I loved her, and we wedded were,
 She was the light which lit my life,
But I rode away at my country's call
 To fight for the Union in the strife.

That night as we stood in the moonlight,
 She gave me a packet rare,
'Twas a faded bunch of forget-me-nots
 And a lock of her golden hair.

For four long years I fought for the right,
 Four years had I heard the cannon's roar,
Four years had I seen men fight and die,
 Stretching stiff limbs to rise no more.

In the fires I saw her face
 Gazing tenderly at me,
And her deep love made me bold,
 Urged me on to victory.

When the cruel war was over,
 Slowly had those four years passed,
Then I knew with joy unbounded
 I'd be home again at last.

Where was she I loved so dearly?
 Why was she not there to meet me?
Where was the merry voice I knew?
 Why did it not gladly greet me?

In a corner of the churchyard,
 Where the pitying weeping willow
Droops its gentle arms above her,
 Where the earth is now her pillow.

Though the mortal dust of Margaret
 Lies there with the silent dead,
Her spirit to the God that gave it
 Has returned, by angels led.

I am old, my step is feeble,
 And my hair is white as snow,
I hear my Leader's last command;
 I am ready, Lord, to go.

Far away I see a river,
 On its banks a form I know;
Open arms she stretches toward me,
 I am waiting, Lord, to go.