Fredericksburg

Thomas Bailey Aldrich 1836 (Portsmouth) – 1907 (Boston)



The increasing moonlight drifts across my bed,
And on the churchyard by the road, I know
It falls as white and noiselessly as snow . . . .
'Twas such a night two weary summers fled;
The stars, as now, were waning overhead.
Listen! Again the shrill-lipped bugles blow
Where the swift currents of the river flow
Past Fredericksburg; far off the heavens are red
With sudden conflagration; on yon height,
Linstock in hand, the gunners hold their breath;
A signal rocket pierces the dense night,
Flings its spent stars upon the town beneath;
Hark! -- the artillery massing on the right,
Hark! -- the black squadrons wheeling down to Death!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
37

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAABBACDCECD
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 642
Words 109
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Thomas Bailey Aldrich was a poet novelist traveler and editor more…

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