Old trees, old trees! in your mystic gloom
There’s many a warrior laid,
And many a nameless and lonely tomb
Is sheltered beneath your shade.
Old trees, old trees! without pomp or prayer
We buried the brave and the true,
We fired a volley and left them there
To rest, old trees, with you.
Old trees, old trees! keep watch and ward
Over each grass-grown bed;
‘Tis a glory, old trees, to stand as guard
Over the Southern dead;
Old trees, old trees! we shall pass away
Like the leaves you yearly shed,
But ye, lone sentinels, still must stay,
Old trees, to guard “our dead”.
(Abram Joseph Ryan)
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Based on Topics: Nature Poems, Success Poems, Courage PoemsBased on Keywords: volley, sentinels, grass-grown