Death & Dying
Epitaph on Benjamin Tremlyn, an Old Soldier, Buried in Bremhill Churchyard, at the Age of Ninety-two
From Poems, Inedited, Unpublished, &c.
A poor old soldier shall not lie unknown,
Without a verse, and this recording stone.
'Twas his in youth o'er distant lands to stray,
Danger and death companions of his way.
Here in his native village, drooping, age
Closed the lone evening of his pilgrimage.
Speak of the past, of names of high renown,
Or his brave comrades long to dust gone down,
His eye with instant animation glowed,
Though ninety winters on his head had snowed.
His country, whilst he lived, a boon supplied,
And faith her shield held o'er him when he died;
Hope, Christian, that his spirit lives with God,
And pluck the wild weeds from his lowly sod,
Where, dust to dust, beside the chancel's shade,
Till the last trumpet sounds, a brave man's bones are laid.
Cite this poem
MLA
Bowles, William Lisle. “Epitaph on Benjamin Tremlyn, an Old Soldier, Buried in Bremhill Churchyard, at the Age of Ninety-two.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/bowles/172/.
Chicago
Bowles, William Lisle. “Epitaph on Benjamin Tremlyn, an Old Soldier, Buried in Bremhill Churchyard, at the Age of Ninety-two.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/bowles/172/.
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