DECORATION DAY

 

DECORATION DAY 

by Celia Thaxter 

Here bring your purple and gold, 
Glory of color and scent! 

Scarlet of tulips bold, 

Buds blue as the firmament. 

Hushed is the sound of the fife 

And the bugle piping clear; 

The vivid and delicate life 

In the soul of the youthful year. 

We bring to the quiet dead 

A gentle and tempered grief; 

O'er the mounds so mute we shed 

The beauty of blossom and leaf. 

Rich fires of the gardens and meads, 

We kindle these hearts above! 

What splendor shall match their deeds? 

What sweetness can match our love? 

The History Of The Decoration Day

General John A Logan, commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, in 1868 designated the thirtieth day of May as the day on which the graves of dead Union soldiers should be decorated, and this date is now universally observed throughout the Northern states. 

References:

1. The Kindergarten Primary Magazine  1919

2. The World Book Organized Knowledge In Story And Picture 1920