Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Americas: Vol. XXX. 1876–79. | | | | Introductory to Mexico | | The Fallen Brave | | George Pope Morris (1802–1864) |
| | | FROM cypress and from laurel boughs | |
| Are twined, in sorrow and in pride, | |
| The leaves that deck the mouldering brows | |
| Of those who for their country died: | |
| In sorrow, that the sable pall | 5 |
| Enfolds the valiant and the brave; | |
| In pride that those who nobly fall | |
| Win garlands that adorn the grave. | |
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| The onset, the pursuit, the roar | |
| Of victory o’er the routed foe, | 10 |
| Will startle from their rest no more | |
| The fallen brave of Mexico. | |
| To God alone such spirits yield! | |
| He took them in their strength and bloom, | |
| When gathering, on the tented field, | 15 |
| The garlands woven for the tomb. | |
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| The shrouded flag, the drooping spear, | |
| The muffled drum, the solemn bell, | |
| The funeral train, the dirge, the bier, | |
| The mourners’ sad and last farewell, | 20 |
| Are fading tributes to the worth | |
| Of those whose deeds this homage claim; | |
| But Time, who mingles them with earth, | |
| Keeps green the garlands of their fame. | | | | |
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