AFTER the cloud and the whirlwind, After the long, dark night, After the dull, slow marches, And the thick, tumultuous fight, Thank God, we see the lifting Of the golden, glorious light! After the sorrowful partings, After the sickening fear, And after the bitter sealing With blood, of year to year, Thank God, the light is breaking; Thank God, the day is here! The land is filled with mourning For husbands and brothers slain, But a hymn of glad thanksgiving Rises over the pain; Thank God, our gallant soldiers Have not gone down in vain! The cloud is spent; the whirlwind That vexed the night is past; And the day whose blessed dawning We see, shall surely last, Till all the broken fetters To ploughshares shall be cast! When over the field of battle The grass grows green, and when The Spirit of Peace shall have planted Her olives once again, Oh, how the hosts of the people Shall cry, Amen, Amen! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...GRANDMOTHER'S STORY OF BUNKER HILL BATTLE by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES SIT DOWN SAD SOUL by BRYAN WALLER PROCTER THE LORD OF BURLEIGH by ALFRED TENNYSON ON THE PASSING OF THE LAST FIRE HORSE FROM MANHATTAN ISLAND by KENNETH SLADE ALLING CLEVEDON VERSES: 4. CUI BONO? by THOMAS EDWARD BROWN THE PEOPLE'S PETITION by WATHEN MARK WILKS CALL TO THE AUTHOR OF POEMS PUBLISHED ANONYMOUSLY (JOSEPH COTTLE) by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE |