"'Tis but a simple duty left to one so small as I;
And yet I would not yield it up for all the higher fame
Of nodding on a hero's helm, or catching beauty's eye.
"I go to where an humble mound uprises in a field,
To mark the place of one whose life was lost a land to save;
Where bannered pomp no birth attests, nor marbled sword nor shield;
I go to deck," the Violet said, "a simple soldier's grave."
There fell a hush on all the flowers; but from a distant grove
Burst forth the anthem of the birds in one grand peal of praise;
As though the stern old Forest's heart had found its early love,