In Memoriam - A poem by A. A. B. Cavaness

In Memoriam.

ATHON WILLEY, CORPORAL KILLED 1863.
OH, loyal heart to Truth and Liberty,
The fountain strong of brave and generous deed,
Foremost in danger if but duty lead,
In life's fair spring on alien shores you lie^__
God sees where, but no other friendly eye.
And bleaching in the gloomy solitude
Of that vine-wreathed and far-off darksome wood
Your bones forever plead the pitying sky;
But forest flowers trod by cruelty
Uprose to gather sweetness from your death,
And bear your spirit in their fragrant breath;
For all your life was gentle, noble, pure,
You died for country^__so your deeds endure,
And Freedom crowns you with a martyr's wreath.

^__A. A. B. Cavaness.

Poems by Two Brothers
A. A. B. Cavaness & J. M. Cavaness
(Chetopa: J. M. Cavaness and Son. 1896)
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