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

By John KendrickBangs

1499 May 30, 1893

IT seemed to be but chance, yet who shall say

That ’t was not part of Nature ’s own sweet way,

That on the field where once the cannon’s breath

Laid many a hero cold and stark in death,

Some little children, in the after-years,

Had come to play among the grassy spears,

And, all unheeding, when their romp was done,

Had left a wreath of wild flowers over one

Who fought to save his country, and whose lot

It was to die unknown and rest forgot?