| Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891. | | | | Among the Flags | | By Louise Imogen Guiney (1861–1920) |
| | In Doric Hall, Massachusetts State House |
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DEAR witnesses, all luminous, eloquent, | |
| Stacked thickly on the tesselated floor! | |
| The soldier-blood stirs in me, as of yore | |
| In sire and grandsire who to battle went: | |
| I seem to know the shaded valley tent, | 5 |
| The armed and bearded men, the thrill of war, | |
| Horses that prance to hear the cannon roar, | |
| Shrill bugle-calls, and camp-fire merriment. | |
| And as fair symbols of heroic things, | |
| Not void of tears mine eyes must e’en behold | 10 |
| These banners lovelier as the deeper marred: | |
| A panegyric never writ for kings | |
| On every tarnished staff and tattered fold; | |
| And by them, tranquil spirits standing guard. | | | |
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