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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MAY 30, 1893 by JOHN KENDRICK BANGS

First Line: IT SEEMED TO BE BUT CHANCE, YET WHO SHALL SAY
Last Line: IT WAS TO DIE UNKNOWN AND REST FORGOT?
Subject(s): HOLIDAYS; MEMORIAL DAY; UNKNOWN SOLDIER; DECLARATION DAY;
IT seemed to be but chance, yet who shall say
That 't was not part of Nature 's own sweet way,

That on the field where once the cannon's breath
Laid many a hero cold and stark in death,

Some little children, in the after-years,
Had come to play among the grassy spears,

And, all unheeding, when their romp was done,
Had left a wreath of wild flowers over one

Who fought to save his country, and whose lot
It was to die unknown and rest forgot?



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