Civil War poem
By Kari Reifsteck
Christmas Night of '62
By William Gordon McCabe
The wintry blast goes wailing by,
The snow is falling overhead;
I hear the lonely sentry's tread,
And distant watch fires light the sky.
Dim forms go flitting through the gloom;
The soldiers cluster round the blaze
To talk of other Christmas days,
And softly speak of home and home.
My sabre swinging overhead
Gleams in the watch-fire's fitful glow,
While fiercely drives the blinding snow,
And memory leads me to the dead.
My thoughts go wandering to and fro,
Vibrating between the Now and Then;
I see the low-browed home again,
The old hall wreathed with mistletoe.
And sweetly from the far-off years
Comes borne the laughter faint and low,
The voices of Long Ago!
My eyes are wet with tender tears.
I feel again the mother-kiss,
I see again the glad surprise
That lighten up the tranquil eyes
And brimmed them o'er with tears of bliss.
My sabre swinging on the bough
Gleams in the watch-fire's fitful glow,
While fiercely drives the blinding snow
Aslant upon my sadden brow.
Those cherished faces all are gone!
Asleep within quiet graves
Where lies the snow in drifting waves, --
And I am sitting here alone.
There's not a comrade here to-night
But knows that loved ones far away
On bended knee this night will pray:
"God bring our darling from the fight."
But there are none to wish me back,
For me no yearning prayers arise.
The lips are mute and closed the eyes--
My home is in the bivouac.
William Gordon McCabe was the son of a Episcopal clergyman. He was a first year student at the Universtiy of Virginia when the War Between the States broke out. His withdrawal from the university followed close on the heels of Virginia's withdrawal from the Union. He served in the Army of Northern Virginia throughout the War. When the War was over he returned to his native state and became a teacher and a poet.
This poet uses several literary devices that enhance this particular poem. A few of these devices are imagery, flashback, mood and rhythm. The imagery of this poem is very real. As you read the poem, you can feel the wintry blast wailing by and you can also see the soldiers clustering around the blaze. As William Gordon McCabe tells this poem, he goes back to times before the war and sees his family members that no longer with this world.
Some of the words I didn't understand in this poem that I think will be of use since you've read this poem that you may also have questions as to what they are or mean are:
Sentry- A person especially a soldier assigned to guard an area against intruders and to look out for danger.
Sabre or Saber- a heavy calvalry sword with a curved blade.
Bivouac- a temporary encampment under little or no shelter.
I thought that this poem is him looking back and still feeling the pain of the War after several years. He is also saying that his home is still in the encampment because he hasn't ever gotten over the war.
I think that the ppoem Christmas Night of '62 written by William Gordon McCabe is one of the better poems about the Civil War that I have read.
The poem was found at
http://users.erols.com/kfraser/xmas62.htm
2 Document
By Kari
Ah, Are You Digging on My
Grave?
by: Thomas Hardy
"Ah, are you digging on my grave,
My loved one? -- planting rue?"
-- "No: yesterday he went to wed
One of the brightest wealth has bred.
'It cannot hurt her now,' he said,
'That I should not be true.'"
"Then who is digging on my grave,
My nearest dearest kin?"
-- "Ah, no: they sit and think, 'What use!
What good will planting flowers produce?
No tendance of her mound can loose
Her spirit from Death's gin.'"
"
But someone digs upon my grave?My enemy? -- prodding sly?"
-- "Nay: when she heard you had passed the Gate
That shuts on all flesh soon or late,
She thought you no more worth her hate,
And cares not where you lie.
"Then, who is digging on my grave?
Say -- since I have not guessed!"
-- "O it is I, my mistress dear,
Your little dog , who still lives near,
And much I hope my movements here
Have not disturbed your rest?"
"Ah yes! You dig upon my grave...
Why flashed it not to me
That one true heart was left behind!
What feeling do we ever find
To equal among human kind
A dog's fidelity!"
"Mistress, I dug upon your grave
To bury a bone, in case
I should be hungry near this spot
When passing on my daily trot.
I am sorry, but I quite forgot
It was your resting place."
Thomas Hardy used three different literary devices to enhance his poem. One of the first that stands out to the reader would be personification. The poet uses personification to enhance this poem by giving the dog and dead person the power to talk to each other when we all know that they both can not. Another that stands out to you is the rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme of this poem is a,b,c,c,c,b. which needless to say is a strange but wonderful rhyme scheme. The last device that was found is mood. The mood of this poem is that it is a serious humor. Because when you are through reading it you want to laugh because this dead person is talking to their old dog.
Thomas Hardy was born on June 2nd 1840 in Higher Bockhampton. He began attending Julia Martin’s school in Bockhampton in 1848. In 1849 h began to play violin locally. In 1862 Hardy traveled to London to work under Arthur Blonfield. While finding his way in London he attended the Exhibition.
I think Thomas Hardy was a very different type of person because from what poems of his that I have read in doing research for this project. Almost all of his poems have some personification and they are written in a humorous way. I think Thomas Hardy didn’t really love his country because when the Civil War started he went to England to live and then afterwards settled down in London afterwards.
The information on Thomas Hardy was found at:
http://pages.ripco.net/~mws/timeline.html
The poem was found at:
http://www.emule.com/poetry/dispoem.cgi?poem=2955