Fantasia by Oliver Wendell Holmes

……The Young Girl’s Poem

Kiss mine eyelids, beauteous Morn,
Blushing into life new-born!
Lend me violets for my hair,
And thy russet robe to wear,
And thy ring of rosiest hue
Set in drops of diamond dew! 

Kiss my cheek, thou noontide ray,
From my Love so far away!
Let thy splendor streaming down
Turn its pallid lilies brown,
Till its darkening shades reveal
Where his passion pressed its seal! 

Kiss my lips, thou Lord of light,
Kiss my lips a soft good-night!
Westward sinks thy golden car;
Leave me but the evening star,
And my solace that shall be,
Borrowing all its light from thee!

 

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A Leave-Taking by James Whitcomb Riley

She will not smile;
…She will not stir;
I marvel while
…I look on her.
……The lips are chilly
……And will not speak;
…The ghost of a lily
……In either cheek.

Her hair – ah me!
…Her hair – her hair!
How helplessly
…My hands go there!
……But my caresses
……Meet not hers,
…O golden tresses
……That thread my tears!

I kiss the eyes
…On either lid,
Where her love lies
…Forever hid.
……I cease my weeping
……And smile and say:
…I will be sleeping
……Thus, some day!

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He Can’t Hit An Elephant by Dennis Lange

John Sedgwick, to his frightened men,
…“Why dodge a single bee?
What will you do in battle, boys,
…When swarms come after thee?” 

“At this range, e’en an elephant
…Would certainly be missed.
Why think ye then your rosy cheek
…Could possibly be kissed?” 

And he sat tall upon his mount
…To prove what he had said,
Until the sniper shot at him
…And Sedgwick fell down, dead.

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The ironic death of Major General John Sedgwick
of the Union army came on May 9, 1864 at the
Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in Virginia. 

http://www.civilwarhome.com/sedgwickdeath.htm

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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2016.

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