"
* * * * *
WATERLOO--"FORGET ME NOT."
"On one of these graves I observed the little wild blue flower,
known by the name of 'Forget me not'."--_Visit to the Field of
Waterloo._
No marble tells, nor columns rise,
To bid the passing stranger mourn,
Where valour fought, and bled, and died,
From friends and life abruptly torn.
Yet on the earth that veils[10] their heads,
Where bravest hearts are doom'd to rot,
This simple flower, with meek appeal,
Prefers the prayer "Forget me not."
Forget! forbid my heart responds
While bending o'er the hero's grave--
Forbid that e'er oblivion's gloom
Should shade the spot where rest the brave.
Fond kindred at this awful shrine
Will oft, with footsteps faltering,
Approach and drop the pious tear--
Sad Memory's purest offering.
And well their country marks those deeds--
The land that gave each bosom fire:
Deeds that her proudest triumph won,
But gaining, saw her sons expire.
And ages hence will Britain's sons,
As trophied tributes meet their view,
Admire, exult--yet mourn the pangs
These glories cost, at Waterloo.
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