- description
- # Rebel Color-bearers at Shiloh:
## Overview
This is a segment of poetry titled "Rebel Color-bearers at Shiloh:" extracted from [Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War.](arke:01KG8AJ6FNQ0XKWBY52P8DRPC9). The segment consists of lines 3289-3329 of the source text. It was extracted on January 30, 2026.
## Context
The poem is part of [Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War.](arke:01KG8AJ6FNQ0XKWBY52P8DRPC9), a collection included in the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW). The source file for this segment is [battle_pieces_and_aspects_of_the_war.txt](arke:01KG89J1G8S4TRWXNCBRKCRKS8). This segment is preceded by [On the Slain Collegians.](arke:01KG8AJPZRD7P3K0MVNK6STXQX) and followed by [America.](arke:01KG8AJQNXCJSQ2FM065ZFKMG1).
## Contents
The poem reflects on the young soldiers who fought and died at the Battle of Shiloh during the American Civil War. It laments the loss of life on both sides, portraying the soldiers as youthful and idealistic, driven by honor and societal pressures. The poem touches on themes of maternal grief, the fleeting nature of youth, and the perceived glory of dying in battle. It questions the righteousness of either side's cause while acknowledging the shared youth and sacrifices of the soldiers.
- description_generated_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:24.374Z
- description_model
- gemini-2.5-flash-lite
- description_title
- Rebel Color-bearers at Shiloh:
- end_line
- 3329
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:47:35.910Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 3289
- text
-
Woe for the homes of the North,
And woe for the seats of the South;
All who felt life’s spring in prime,
And were swept by the wind of their place and time--
All lavish hearts, on whichever side,
Of birth urbane or courage high,
Armed them for the stirring wars--
Armed them--some to die.
Apollo-like in pride,
Each would slay his Python--caught
The maxims in his temple taught--
Aflame with sympathies whose blaze
Perforce enwrapped him--social laws,
Friendship and kin, and by-gone days--
Vows, kisses--every heart unmoors,
And launches into the seas of wars.
What could they else--North or South?
Each went forth with blessings given
By priests and mothers in the name of Heaven;
And honor in both was chief.
Warred one for Right, and one for Wrong?
So be it; but they both were young--
Each grape to his cluster clung,
All their elegies are sung.
The anguish of maternal hearts
Must search for balm divine;
But well the striplings bore their fated parts
(The heavens all parts assign)--
Never felt life’s care or cloy.
Each bloomed and died an unabated Boy;
Nor dreamed what death was--thought it mere
Sliding into some vernal sphere.
They knew the joy, but leaped the grief,
Like plants that flower ere comes the leaf--
Which storms lay low in kindly doom,
And kill them in their flush of bloom.
- title
- Rebel Color-bearers at Shiloh: