Hush'd Be the Camps Today

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Hush'd be the camps today,
And soldiers let us drape our war-worn weapons,
And each with musing soul retire to celebrate,
Our dear commander's death.

No more for him life's stormy conflicts,
Nor victory, nor defeat-no more time's dark events,
Charging like ceaseless clouds across the sky.

But sing poet in our name,
Sing of the love we bore him-because you, dweller in camps, know it truly.

As they invault the coffin there,
Sing-as they close the doors of earth upon him-one verse,
For the heavy hearts of soldiers.

© Walt Whitman