Collected be Mellinger E. Henry from Mrs. Will Franklin

In the first stanza, the author is telling the reader that there is a lot of soldiers dead on the ground and one of the people is a drummer boy who was beating a drum that day.

In the second stanza, one of the wounded soldiers held the drummer boy up, a drum was by his side, and then the drummer boy clasped his hands and prayed, before he died.

In the third stanza, the drummer boy is saying a prayer and the wounded soldiers listen and when the drummer boy is done, the soldiers say, "AMEN."

In the fourth stanza, the soldiers are on their knees crying and wanting everyone to listen to the drummer boy who prayed before he died.

In the fifth stanza, the soldiers have folded the flag and shut the top of the coffin and people are saying how they loved the drummer boy because he prayed before he died.

In the sixth stanza, lots of homes are joyless, and lots of hearts are painful because lots of people loved the drummer boy and he prayed before he died.

Literary devices: Imagery, Fiction, Setting, Mood, Tone, and Rhythm.

There are lots of examples of imagery in this poem, My favorite is:

These lines show the bloody ground and all the dead and wounded people.

This poem is fiction but it is based on a real, true to life event.

The setting of this poem is at Shiloh after the fighting and the wounded are moving and the dead aren’t.

During this poem I felt sad, sorry for the soldiers because they have to go threw the hardships of war, and respectful because the drummer boy had enough strength to pray before he died.

The tone of the story is sad, I think this poem was made to tell people the hardships of war and that any one person can be shot even if he is not trying to kill someone.

Overall I liked this poem, I liked that he prayed before he died, and I like all the detail of the poem.

This poem has an irregular rhythm.

Bibliography:

AMERICAN FOLK POETRY. Duncan Emrich.

Second part:

This part of Literature was from a book illustrated by Warren Chappel and edited by B.A. Botkin. This Literature was on pages 270-271 in part three and is called"Reunion."

THE THIRD OHIO REGIMENT were among the prisoners after a certain engagement, and when they entered a Tennessee town, on their way to the prisons in Richmond, they were visited, through curiosity, by a number of the 54^th Virginia, who wanted to see how the Yankees liked it to be hungry and tired and hopeless. The melancholy picture that met their gaze was enough to touch their hearts, and it did so. They ran back to their camp, and soon returned reinforced by others of their regiment, all bringing coffee (and kettles to boil it in), cornbread, and bacon; and with these refreshments, which were all they had themselves, they regaled the hungry prisoners, mingling with them and doing all they could to relieve their distress, and the next morning the prisoners departed on their weary way, deeply grateful for the kindness of their enemies, and vowing never to forget it.

It was not long before the opportunity came to them to show they remembered it. In due time they were exchanged, and, returning to service, they found themselves encamped near Kelly's Ferry, on the Tennessee River. When Missionary Ridge was stormed [November 25, 1863], a lot of prisoners were taken from the confederates, and among the number was the 54^th Virginia, and they were marched nine miles to Kelly's Ferry. It happened at the landing there were some of the third Ohio, and they asked what regiment this was. The answer, "The 54^th Virginia," had a most surprising effect on them. They left the spot on the run, and rushing up to their camp they shouted out to the boys, "The 54^th Virginia is at the Ferry!" If they had announced the appearance of a hostile army in force, they could not have started up greater and quicker activity in the camp. The men ran about like mad, loaded themselves up with every eatable thing they could lay their hands on-coffee, bacon, sugar, beef, preserved fruits, everything-and started with a yell for the ferry, where they surrounded and hugged the Virginians like so many reunited college-mates, and spread before them the biggest feast they had seen since The Old Dominion seceded from the union.

In summary of this literature:

Yankees from the third-Ohio became prisoners. Non-prisoners of the 54th Virginia wanted to see how the Yankees felt being hopeless and hungry. Then the people from the 54^th Virginia felt sorry for them, and brought food for them like coffee, bacon, and cornbread. The Yankees thanked them for it and promised they would never forget it. The Yankees were released and went back into service, but later on they unknowingly came upon the soldiers of the 54^th Virginia at Kelly's Ferry. Once the people from the third-Ohio knew this, they grabbed every kind of food source they could find and met up with them and they had a grand feast and a great chat.

My opinion: This literature was a delight to read and I enjoyed hearing how two sides can get along without fighting and having the grace to eat and enjoy themselves and have a good time with each other.