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The Bravest Soldiers

per.00116.014per.00116.014_cropped [FOR THE NEW YORK HERALD.]

THE BRAVEST SOLDIERS.1

Brave, brave and true were the soldiers (high-named 
  to-day) who lived through the big fight;2
But the bravest pressed to the front, and fell, un- 
  named, unknown.
WALT WHITMAN.

Notes

1. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888). [back]

2. The "Sands at Seventy" printing of "The Bravest Soldiers" omits several words from the first line that were included in the Herald printing. The poem appeared again in the newspaper on April 30, 1888 and was the only of Whitman's Herald poems to be reprinted in the paper. The text of the poem was the same in both instances, with the exception of slight punctuation differences. [back]

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