"To-Day" by Annie M. Toohey (1911)

To-Day:

Not a vestige of blood stains the chalice,

        On freedom's blest altar to-day,

Shed in wage of a battle of sorrow

        'Mid the ranks of the Blue and the Gray;

                Nay, only the impress of lillies

                Sweet Peace hath so fervently twined

                Around with its tenderest fingers

                                Evermore can the eye truly find.

Not a note of harsh discord re-echoes

        Where shades of the willow droop low,

O'er the graves loyal footsteps are tracing

        'Mid measures of Freedom that flow.

                Nay, only sweet memory's music

                Attuned ev'ry bosom to thrill

                That bend once again over heroes

                                At rest 'neath the wave and the hill.

                                                                —ANNIE M. TOOHEY.

Troy Times. May 30, 1911: 4 col 3.