The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1935-05-24
O'HaraS Tomb

cemetery on that date and decorated not only the
graves of the Confederate war dead, but also
those of some Union soldiers buried there.
The next spring there appeared in New York
newspaper brief paragraph which stated that
'the women of Columbus, Miss, have shown
themselves impartial in their offerings made to
the memory of the dead. They strewed flowers
alike on the graves of the Confederate and OF
the National soldiers"
AT that time a young man named Francis
Miles Finch was practicing law in Ithaca, n. Y.
Born in 1927 he had been graduated from Yale
In 1S49 and, as class poet, had delivered men,
orable poem at the commencement exercises. But
In the years that followed he more con-
cerned with drawing up prosaic legal briefs than
with giving rein to poetic fancy.
Then he read the newspaper item about the
action of the women in Columbus, Miss. Francis
Miles Finch, the lawyer, became Francis Miles
Finch, the poet, again, and in 1867 there ap-
peared in the Atlantic Monthly this poem:
THE BLUE AND THE GRAY
By the flow of the inland river,
Whence the fleets of iron have fed,
Where the blades of the gravegrass culver,
Asleep are the ranks of the dead:
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment-day;
Under the one, the Blue,
Under the other, the Gray.
These In the robings Of glory,
Those in the gloom of defeat,
All with the battle-blood CORY,
In the dusk of eternity meet:
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment-day;
Under the laurel, the Blue,
Under the willow, the Gray.
From the silence of sorrowful hours
The desolate mourners go,
Lovingly laden with flowers
Alike for the friend and the foe:
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment-day;
Under the roses, the Blue
Under the lilies, the Gray.
So with an equal splendor,
The morning sun-rays fall,
With touch impartially tender,
On the blossoms blooming for all:
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment-day;
Broidered with gold, the Blue,
Mellowed with gold, the Gray.
So, when the summer calleth,
On forest and field of grain,
With an equal murmur falleth
The cooling drip of the rain:
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment-day;
Wet with the rain the Blue
Wet with the rain, the Gray.
Sadly, but not with upbraiding,
The generous deed was done,
In the storm of the years that are fading
No drawer battle was won:
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment-day;
Under the blossoms, the Blue
Under the garlands, the Gray
No more shall the war-cry sever,
Or the winding rivers be red;
They Danish anger forever
When they laurel the graves Of our dead:
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment-day;
Love and tears for the Blue
Tears and love for the Gray
This poem became instantly popular. II was
reprinted in hundreds Of newspapers throughout
the land II was set to music and sung as patri-
otic hymn. famous anthology Of American
poetry calls II "a national classic"
In later years Finch became justice Of the
New York Court of Appeals, helped organize
Cornell university. was a member Of its first
board Of trustees, became dean Of its law school
in 1892 and held other positions Of honor and
trust until his death In 1907 But America does
not remember the famous jurist and educator
nearly so well as II remembers the man whose
poetic message Of reconciliation helped reunits
q nation and heal the wounds Of q great war.