The Unfallen Brave

Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)



Not all in sorrow and in tears,
To pay of gratitude's arrears
The yearly sum
Not prompted, wholly by the pride
Of those for whom their friends have died,
To-day we come.

Another aim we have in view
Than for the buried boys in blue
To dropp a tear:
Memorial Day revives the chin
Of Barnes, and Salomon chimes in
That's why we're here.

And when in after-ages they
Shall pass, like mortal men, away,
Their war-song sung,
Then fame will tell the tale anew
Of how intrepidly they drew
The deadly tongue.

Then cull white lilies for the graves
Of Liberty's loquacious braves,
And roses red.
Those represent their livers, these
The blood that in unmeasured seas
They did not shed.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

38 sec read
37

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXABBA CCXDDX EEFCCF GGHIIH
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 657
Words 124
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6

Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist. more…

All Ambrose Bierce poems | Ambrose Bierce Books

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