James and Mary Ford, eds. Every Day in the Year. 1902.
May 30Memorial Day
By Cy Warman (18551914)G
Snow-white roses and roses red;
Gather the fairest flowers of May,
Heap them up on the heaps of clay,
Gladden the graves of the noble dead.
Piled on the field where they fought and fell;
They will rejoice in their new place there
Today, as they walk where the fragrant air
Is sweet with the scent of the asphodel.
They fell so thick where the battles were,
Their hot blood rippled, and, running red,
Ran out like a rill from the drifted dead
Staining the heath and the daisies there.
And they will keep it through all the years,
To the silent city where soldiers sleep
Will come with flowers, to watch and weep
And water the garlands with their tears.