War Poems

I'd like to offer up some links to poems written about war, mostly by those who were there.  From the Civil War to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, men and women have tried to convey what it was and is like through poetry.  Some of it is sad.  Some is humorous.  All of it is haunting.  In honor of the soldiers of our nation and others, thank you.  That, my respect, and my remembrance of you is all I have to offer.

ONLY A SOLDIER'S GRAVE
By S.A. Jones


Only a soldier's grave! Pass by,
For soldiers, like other mortals, die.
Parents had he -- they are far away;
No sister weeps o'er the soldier's clay;
No brother comes, with tearful eye;
It's only a soldier's grave -- pass by.

True, he was loving, and young, and brave,
Though no glowing epitaph honors his grave;
No proud recital of virtues known,
Of griefs endured, or triumphs won;
No tablet of marble, or obelisk high; --
Only a soldier's grave: -- pass by.

Yet bravely he wielded his sword in fight,
And he gave his life in the cause of right!
When his hope was high, and his youthful dream
As warm as the sunlight on yonder stream;
His heart unvexed by sorrow or sigh; --
Yet, 'tis only a soldier's grave: - pass by.

Yet, we should mark it -- the soldier's grave,
Some one may seek him in hope to save!
Some of the dear ones, far away,
Would bear him home to his native clay:
'Twere sad, indeed, should they wander nigh,
Find not the hillock, and pass him by.