In great deeds something abides.
On great fields something stays.
Forms change;
bodies disappear;
spirits linger,
to consecrate ground for the vision-place of souls.
And reverent men and women from afar,
and generations that know us not of,
heart-drawn to see where and by whom
great things were suffered and done for them,
shall come to this deathless field, to ponder and dream;
and lo!
The shadows of a mighty presence
shall wrap them in its bosom,
and the power of the vision pass into
their souls.
Major-General Joshua Chamberlain
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
October 3, 1889
