Skimming lightly, wheeling still,
  The swallows fly low
Over the fields in [clouded]1 days,
  The forest-field of Shiloh --
Over the field where April rain
Solaced the parched ones stretched in pain
Through the pause of night
That followed the Sunday fight
  Around the church of Shiloh --
The church, so lone, the log-built one,
That echoed to many a parting groan
      And natural prayer
  Of dying foemen mingled there --
Foemen at morn, but friends at eve --
  Fame or country least their care:
(What like a bullet can undeceive!)
  But now they lie low,
While over them the swallows skim,
  And all is hushed at Shiloh.

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Note: April 6th-7th, 1862, Shiloh, Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee: General Ulysses S. Grant, leading Union forces (Armies of the Tennessee and of the Ohio), defeated the Confederate Army of the Mississippi under Generals Albert Sidney Johnston and P. G. T. Beauregard. Almost 24,000 soldiers died in the battle.

¹ Weisgall (?) : "cloudy" (needs to be confirmed)

Text Authorship:

• by Herman Melville (1819 - 1891), "Shiloh: A Requiem", appears in Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War, first published 1866 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Joseph Eidson , "Shiloh", subtitle: "A requiem", 2009 [ baritone, B-flat clarinet, and piano ], from Songs of this War, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Robert Evett (1922 - 1975), "Shiloh", published 1953 [ mixed chorus ], from The Mask of Cain [sung text not yet checked]
• by Lowell Liebermann (b. 1961), "Shiloh", op. 7 no. 4 (1981) [ bass and piano or orchestra ], from War Songs, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Michael Rickelton (b. 1983), "Shiloh", 2006, from Battle Songs, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hugo Weisgall (1912 - 1997), "Shiloh", published 1953 [ baritone and orchestra ], from Soldier Songs for Baritone [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2005-10-15
Line count: 19
Word count: 104