Lyr Add: Poem:'Dirge For A Soldier'

Subject: Poem:'Dirge For A Soldier'
From: Uncle Jaque
Date: 01 Jun 01 - 09:27 AM

Found this poem in an old volume while preparing for Memorial Day Service.
It looks as if it were meant for a song, but I am unaware of any music being set to it. If anyone is aware of it as such, please let me know, as I think it was written during the War and would be appropriate for Living History / Reenactment performance. If not, or the tune has been lost, I may be tempted to compose something for it. If a melody pops into your head when you read this, do share it around, won't you?

"Fighting Phil" Kearney was a colorful carachter, to say the least; beloved by his subordinates and respected by his enemies, he died as he lived and seemed most at home; in Battle. As Members of the First Division of the "Old III Corps" Army of the Potomac once commanded by Kearney, the 3rd Maine Regiment Veterans (who we portray) proudly wore the "Red Diamond" insignia or "Kearney Patch".

Close his eyes; his work is done!
What to him is friend or foeman?
Rise of moon, or set of sun,
Hand of man, or kiss of woman?
Lay him low, lay him low
In the clover or the snow!
What cares he? He cannot know:
Lay him low!

As man may, he fought his fight,
Proved his truth by his endeavor;
Let him sleep in solemn night,
Sleep forever, and forever.
Lay him low, lay him low
In the clover or the snow!
What cares he? He cannot know:
Lay him low!

Fold him in his Country?s stars,
Roll the drum and fire the volley!
What to him are all our wars,
What but death bemocking folly?
Lay him low, lay him low
In the clover or the snow!
What cares he? He cannot know:
Lay him low!

Leave him to God?s watching eye,
Trust him to the hand that made him.
Mortal love weeps idly by:
God alone has power to aid him.
Lay him low, lay him low
In the clover or the snow!
What cares he? He cannot know:
Lay him low!

From:

?The CIVIL WAR In Song and Story?
1860-1865

MOORE: Frank
(NY: Peter Fenelon Collier, 1892)

P. 143

Transcribed by: John C. Clarke
Chaplain, Haskell - Marston Camp #56
Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
Yarmouth, Maine
June 1, 2001

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Line breaks added. Were those question marks in the title of the book supposed to be quotes? --JoeClone

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Poem:'Dirge For A Soldier'
From: Uncle Jaque
Date: 01 Jun 01 - 09:33 AM

Appologies for the formatting (or lack thereof) in above post: this text field is doing bizzarre things again, like vanishing text, invisible "pastes", and automatic scrambling. Use of HTML tags became impractical as I could not see what I was doing most of the time.

If that poem looks like something you might want, feel free to copy-paste onto a WP program and doctor it up; I've pretty much given up on trying to get anything to come out in a cogent format here.

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Unc, we can be pretty darned fast! When I type lyrics in, I don't mess with the html until I'm done. I then type <br> at the end of one line, copy it and paste it everywhere there should be a line break. --JoeClone