A Nameless Grave
Instrumentation: SATB & Piano
Purchase: SATB
Duration: 2:30
Language: English
Story: I've always been drawn to the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This particular poem grapples with the feeling of indebtedness one feels to those who have lived, fought, and died in service. Written for the Hawai‘i Pacific University Summon the Heroes concert.
Purchase: SATB
Duration: 2:30
Language: English
Story: I've always been drawn to the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This particular poem grapples with the feeling of indebtedness one feels to those who have lived, fought, and died in service. Written for the Hawai‘i Pacific University Summon the Heroes concert.
Text:
"A soldier of the Union mustered out,"
Is the inscription on an unknown grave
At Newport News, beside the salt-sea wave,
Nameless and dateless; sentinel or scout
Shot down in skirmish, or disastrous rout
Of battle, when the loud artillery drave
Its iron wedges through the ranks of brave
And doomed battalions, storming the redoubt.
Thou unknown hero sleeping by the sea
In thy forgotten grave! with secret shame
I feel my pulses beat, my forehead burn,
When I remember thou hast given for me
All that thou hadst, thy life, thy very name,
And I can give thee nothing in return.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Is the inscription on an unknown grave
At Newport News, beside the salt-sea wave,
Nameless and dateless; sentinel or scout
Shot down in skirmish, or disastrous rout
Of battle, when the loud artillery drave
Its iron wedges through the ranks of brave
And doomed battalions, storming the redoubt.
Thou unknown hero sleeping by the sea
In thy forgotten grave! with secret shame
I feel my pulses beat, my forehead burn,
When I remember thou hast given for me
All that thou hadst, thy life, thy very name,
And I can give thee nothing in return.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow