Categories: Books

Five Classic Poems for Memorial Day

Memorial Day is about history. As we learned in school, much of civilized history is measured by wars. The best that can be said of war is that it has preserved our freedom when oppressors have sought to dominate us. Valiant people fight these wars for us and Memorial Day is a time to remember those who have sacrificed their life for our freedoms.

Moving military remembrances have come from the World Wars of the twentieth century, as well as our American Civil War. Here is a list of five famous poems that everyone should know. They are classics that schoolchildren have memorized and that inspire servicemen and women of today. You may hear one recited at Memorial Day ceremonies in your town.

You can read the full texts of the poems at many poetry web sites. Books by some of these poets are included in Project Gutenberg.

Poem 1: In Flanders Fields by Dr. John McCrae

John McCrae was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps. In the spring of 1915 he was in charge of a field hospital during the Second Battle of Ypres. It was a horrific and long battle. The soldiers endured 17 days of shelling. After a friend was killed, McCrae wrote “In Flanders Fields” on a scrap of paper as he watched over his friend’s grave. The poem was first published in England in December 1915 after a fellow officer retrieved the discarded scrap of paper.

The poem speaks in the voice of the dead soldiers. Spring poppies grow wild in the fields of Flanders:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place…

Poem 2: Dirge for Two Veterans by Walt Whitman

Dirge for Two Veterans is part of Whitman’s major collection Leaves of Grass, first appearing in the edition of 1867. Whitman was intimately affected by the Civil War. His wounded brother drew Whitman to relocate to Washington, DC to look after him. There, he volunteered as a nurse for wounded soldiers. He spent his own meager income on supplies.

The Dirge describes a procession for two soldiers, father and son, who died together in battle. The last stanza, in the voice of the mother, says:

The moon gives you light,
And the bugles and the drums give you music,
And my heart, O my soldiers, my veterans,
My heart gives you love.

For Memorial Day 2007, twelve different volunteer readers made audio recordings of “Dirge for Two Veterans. You can hear them at LibriVox.org.

Poem 3: High Flight by John Gillespie Magee

High Flight is an aviator’s poem and has become a favorite of astronauts too. Magee, an American, joined the Royal Canadian Air Force before the United States joined World War II. He was killed when two planes collided on a training flight in England at the age of 19. He wrote the poem “High Flight” in 1941, a few months before his death. He sent it home to his parents on the back of a letter.

The poem begins joyfully. Magee clearly loved flying:

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings

The poem ends with these transcendent words:

… I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

Poem 4: Battle Hymn of the Republic

This poem by abolitionist Julia Ward Howe is set to the tune of “John Brown’s Body. There is an account in her own words of hearing the tune while visiting the soldiers in Washington DC in 1861. Her companion suggested she write new words for the soldier’s marching song. Early the next morning, she worked out the words and wrote them down in the pre-dawn darkness. Its words are powerful and warlike, with Christian religious fervor. It was published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1862.

The first verse contains powerful and often quoted phrases:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

Poem 5: Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

While not an American battle, the story Tennyson tells of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War is a heart-rending story of valor and folly during the Battle of Balaklava in 1854. Because of misleading orders, the brigade rode bravely and directly into the enemy guns. They forced the Russians back but lost many soldiers.

The poem celebrates their bravery. The rhythm of the words makes you feel the thundering strength of the horses’ charge. It also makes clear the hopeless task set to the soldiers, with these famous lines:

Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Sources

Harry Rusche, “John McCrae.” Lost Poets of the Great War.

Dave English, “High Flight by John Magee.” Great Aviation Quotes.

Roger Lee Hall, “Battle Hymn of the Republic: Origins of a Civil War Song.” American Music Preservation.

“Walt Whitman.” Poets.org.

“Battle of Balaclava.” Wikipedia.org.

“The Charge of the Light Brigade (poem).” Wikipedia.org.