- description
- # Inscription for Graves at Pea Ridge, Arkansas.
## Overview
This is a segment of poetry titled "Inscription for Graves at Pea Ridge, Arkansas." It is extracted from a text file and included in the poetry collection [Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War.](arke:01KG8AJ6FNQ0XKWBY52P8DRPC9). The segment consists of 18 lines of verse.
## Context
The segment is part of a larger collection of works by Herman Melville, contained within the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. The text was extracted from the file [battle_pieces_and_aspects_of_the_war.txt](arke:01KG89J1G8S4TRWXNCBRKCRKS8). This segment is preceded by [The Released Rebel Prisoner.](arke:01KG8AJQNXPYYRMGT3KBTADMXN) and followed by [The Fortitude of the North under the Disaster of the Second Manassas.](arke:01KG8AJQP3TBNZVVHB1HVY8EHT).
## Contents
The segment is a poem reflecting on the deaths of soldiers at the Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas. The poem suggests that their deaths in "furious fight" were preferable to a "tame surrender of the Cause," implying a Confederate perspective. It speaks of fighting for "Man and Right" and being ruled by a "traitor's choice," leading them to march and fall "victorious!"
- description_generated_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:23.777Z
- description_model
- gemini-2.5-flash-lite
- description_title
- Inscription for Graves at Pea Ridge, Arkansas.
- end_line
- 3436
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:47:35.910Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 3419
- text
- Inscription
for Graves at Pea Ridge, Arkansas.
Let none misgive we died amiss
When here we strove in furious fight:
Furious it was; nathless was this
Better than tranquil plight,
And tame surrender of the Cause
Hallowed by hearts and by the laws.
We here who warred for Man and Right,
The choice of warring never laid with us.
There we were ruled by the traitor’s choice.
Nor long we stood to trim and poise,
But marched, and fell--victorious!
- title
- Inscription for Graves at Pea Ridge, Arkansas.