A March in the Ranks, Hard-prest

A March in the ranks hard-prest, and the road unknown;
A route through a heavy wood, with muffled steps in the
　　　darkness;
Our army foil’d with loss severe, and the sullen remnant
　　　retreating;
Till after midnight glimmer upon us, the lights of a dim-lighted
　　　building;
We come to an open space in the woods, and halt by the dim-
　　　lighted building; 5
’Tis a large old church at the crossing roads--’tis now an
　　　impromptu hospital;
Entering but for a minute, I see a sight beyond all the pictures
　　　and poems ever made:
Shadows of deepest, deepest black, just lit by moving candles
　　　and lamps,
And by one great pitchy torch, stationary, with wild red flame,
　　　and clouds of smoke;
By these, crowds, groups of forms, vaguely I see, on the floor,
　　　some in the pews laid down; 10
At my feet more distinctly, a soldier, a mere lad, in danger of
　　　bleeding to death, (he is shot in the abdomen;)
I staunch the blood temporarily, (the youngster’s face is white
　　　as a lily;)
Then before I depart I sweep my eyes o’er the scene, fain to
　　　absorb it all;
Faces, varieties, postures beyond description, most in obscurity,
　　　some of them dead;
Surgeons operating, attendants holding lights, the smell of ether,
　　　the odor of blood; 15
The crowd, O the crowd of the bloody forms of soldiers--the
　　　yard outside also fill’d;
Some on the bare ground, some on planks or stretchers, some in the death-spasm sweating;
An occasional scream or cry, the doctor’s shouted orders or calls;
The glisten of the little steel instruments catching the glint of
　　　the torches;
These I resume as I chant--I see again the forms, I smell the
　　　odor; 20
Then hear outside the orders given, Fall in, my men, Fall in;
But first I bend to the dying lad--his eyes open--a half-smile
　　　gives he me;
Then the eyes close, calmly close, and I speed forth to the
　　　darkness,
Resuming, marching, ever in darkness marching, on in the ranks,
The unknown road still marching. 25