Ralph Waldo Emerson, comp. (1803–1882). Parnassus: An Anthology of Poetry. 1880.
Ode Sung on the Occasion of Decorating the Graves of the Confederate DeadHenry Timrod (18281867)
At Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.
S
Sleep, martyrs of a fallen cause!
Though yet no marble column craves
The pilgrim here to pause,
The blossom of your fame is blown,
And somewhere, waiting for its birth,
The shaft is in the stone!
Which keep in trust your storied tombs,
Behold! your sisters bring their tears,
And these memorial blooms.
More proudly on these wreaths to-day,
Than when some cannon-mouldered pile
Shall overlook this bay.
There is no holier spot of ground
Than where defeated valor lies,
By mourning beauty crowned!