| Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891. | | | | Decoration Day | | By Langdon Elwyn Mitchell (1862–1935) |
| | | WITH acclamation and with trumpet tone, | |
| With prayer and praise, and with triumphal state | |
| Of warlike columns, and the moving weight | |
| Of men, whose firmness, never overthrown, | |
| Proved itself steadfast; which did add to fate | 5 |
| Speed, vision, certainty, and ever grown | |
| More terrible as more enduring shone | |
| A fire of retribution and swift hate, | |
| All visibly advancing—with these we keep | |
| Unsullied in our breast and pure and white | 10 |
| The spirit of gratitude that may not sleep,— | |
| A nation’s safeguard against shame and blight,— | |
| Since sacred memories and the tears men weep | |
| Alone can keep a nation at its height. | | | | |
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