The Poetical Works of Jonathan E. Hoag/To Mr. Lane, a Veteran of the Civil War, and His Wife

by Jonathan E. Hoag

To Mr. Lane, a Veteran of the Civil War, and His Wife, on the Fiftieth Anniversary of Their Marriage

 

Now, fifty years of joyous wedded life,
Full fifty years a happy man and wife!
Your vine, enriched in youthful virgin soil,
Hath brought to you the fruits of honest toil.

Like Abraham, in days so long ago,
On you the years eight boys and girls bestow;
And when at eve the lengthened shadow falls,
To you in love they come when duty calls.

Thy blade and buckler, Lane, kept ever bright,
With eagle eye thou cleav'st the darkening night,
Thy footsteps led o'er many a crimson field;
Thy breast was e'er to shot and sword revealed.

Thou didst not falter at the bugle's call,
But left'st behind thy friendships, home and all;
In rhythmic ranks on miles of dusty road,
Thy bending back sustained a sodier's load.

Thou trod'st the plains where ran the fresh spilt gore,
Where friend and foe the ground were struggling o'er.
Thou kept'st the sentry beat through midnight dread,
Midst groans and prayers and flashes overhead.

Thou heard'st the scream of deadly shot and shell;
Thou knew'st wild horrors mortal cannot tell!
Thou saw'st the haggard face upturned to skies,
And bodies torn, with staring, sightless eyes.

Now, when thy feebler, faltering steps we see,
Thy children all will come to honor thee.
Thine admonitions each hath often heard;
Let none forget thine earnest, prayerful word!

And when thy bier beneath the flag shall lie,
Whilst marching comrades bear thee with a sigh,
A grateful land will rise to call thee blest,
Nor cease to mourn the hero gone to rest.

1917