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Oliver Wendell Holmes - The Two Armies
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As Life`s unending column pours,
Two marshalled hosts are seen,­
Two armies on the trampled shores
That Death flows black between.

One marches to the drum-beat`s roll,
The wide-mouthed clarion`s bray,
And bears upon a crimson scroll,
Our glory is to slay.

One moves in silence by the stream,
With sad, yet watchful eyes,
Calm as the patient planet`s gleam
That walks the clouded skies.

Along its front no sabres shine,
No blood-red pennons wave;
Its banner bears the single line,
Our duty is to save.

For those no death-bed`s lingering shade;
At Honor`s trumpet-call,
With knitted brow and lifted blade
In Glory`s arms they fall.

For these no clashing falchions bright,
No stirring battle-cry;
The bloodless stabber calls by night,­
Each answers, Here am I!

For those the sculptor`s laurelled bust,
The builder`s marble piles,
The anthems pealing oer their dust
Through long cathedral aisles.

For these the blossom-sprinkled turf
That floods the lonely graves
When Spring rolls in her sea-green surf
In flowery-foaming waves.

Two paths lead upward from below,
And angels wait above,
Who count each burning life-drop`s flow,
Each falling tear of Love.

Though from the Hero`s bleeding breast
Her pulses Freedom drew,
Though the white lilies in her crest
Sprang from that scarlet dew,­

While Valor`s haughty champions wait
Till all their scars are shown,
Love walks unchallenged through the gate,
To sit beside the Throne.
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