A Soldier's Burial


by George S. Patton


Not midst the chanting of the Requiem Hymn,


Nor with the solemn ritual of prayer,


Neath misty shadows from the oriel glass,


And dreamy perfume of the incensed air


Was he interred;


But the subtle stillness after fight,


And the half light between the night and the day,


We dragged his body all besmeared with mud,


And dropped if, clod-like, bock into the clay.


Yet who shall say that he was not content,


Or missed the prayers, or drone of chanting choir,


He who had heard all day the Battle Hymn


Sung on all sides by a thousand throats of fire.


What pointed glass can lovelier shadows cost


Than those the evening skies shall ever shed,


While, mingled with their light, Red Battle's Sun


Completes in magic colors o'er our dead


The flag for which they died.

Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer