Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.

Chant of the Shroud Maker

Marian Ramié

OTHERS work for the living—

Be mine to work for the dead.

Afar there rages the battle loud;

With tender hands I fashion a shroud

For the clay when the soul has fled.

Soldier, stranger, friend,

Man I shall never see,

Loving, I weave a winding sheet

For one who has died for me.

Triply the sheet be folded

For the Blessed Trinity;

And on his bosom his folded hands

Unwanted now for life’s demands,

And the scarlet cross shall be.

Soldier, brother, friend,

Face I shall never see,

Loving, I weave a winding sheet

For one who has died for me.

Cover the clay deserted

Now that the life has sped.

Prayers, blessings and grateful tears

Follow his memory through the years:

Peace to the honored dead.

Soldier, brother, friend,

Man I shall never see;

Loving, I weave a winding sheet

For one who has died for me.