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Home  »  An American Anthology, 1787–1900  »  1051 Such Is the Death the Soldier Dies

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By Robert BurnsWilson

1051 Such Is the Death the Soldier Dies

SUCH is the death the soldier dies:

He falls,—the column speeds away;

Upon the dabbled grass he lies,

His brave heart following, still, the fray.

The smoke-wraiths drift among the trees,

The battle storms along the hill;

The glint of distant arms he sees;

He hears his comrades shouting still.

A glimpse of far-borne flags, that fade

And vanish in the rolling din:

He knows the sweeping charge is made,

The cheering lines are closing in.

Unmindful of his mortal wound,

He faintly calls and seeks to rise;

But weakness drags him to the ground:—

Such is the death the soldier dies.