- description
- # An Epitaph.
## Overview
This is a segment of poetry titled "An Epitaph.", extracted from a text file and identified as a segment within a larger work. It was extracted on January 30, 2026.
## Context
This segment is part of [Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War.](arke:01KG8AJ6FNQ0XKWBY52P8DRPC9), a poetry collection contained within the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. The segment was extracted from the file [battle_pieces_and_aspects_of_the_war.txt](arke:01KG89J1G8S4TRWXNCBRKCRKS8). It is preceded by the poem [On the Men of Maine killed in the Victory of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.](arke:01KG8AJQP8PH6KSDZM3507TSWE) and followed by [Inscription for Marye’s Heights, Fredericksburg.](arke:01KG8AJQP3QTMWQCZRWB5MM0B2).
## Contents
The segment contains a poem of ten lines, titled "An Epitaph.". The poem describes a scene where news from the front lines of war causes distress among the clergy and congregation, but a soldier's widow maintains her faith and offers comfort to others.
- description_generated_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:24.540Z
- description_model
- gemini-2.5-flash-lite
- description_title
- An Epitaph.
- end_line
- 3484
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:47:35.911Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 3471
- text
- An Epitaph.
When Sunday tidings from the front
Made pale the priest and people,
And heavily the blessing went,
And bells were dumb in the steeple;
The Soldier’s widow (summering sweerly here,
In shade by waving beeches lent)
Felt deep at heart her faith content,
And priest and people borrowed of her cheer.
- title
- An Epitaph.