Hush'd Be the Camps To-Day



"Hush'd Be the Camps To-Day" is a poem by Walt Whitman dedicated to Abraham Lincoln. The poem was written on April 19, 1865, shortly after Lincoln's assassination. Whitman went on to write additional poetry about Lincoln: "O Captain! My Captain!", "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", and "This Dust Was Once the Man."

The Poem
Hush'd be the camps to-day;

And, soldiers, let us drape our war-worn weapons;

And each with musing soul retire, to celebrate,

Our dear commander's death.

No more for him life's stormy conflicts;

Nor victory, nor defeat--no more time's dark events,

Charging like ceaseless clouds across the sky.

But sing, poet, in our name;

Sing of the love we bore him--because you, dweller in camps, know it

truly.

As they invault the coffin there;

Sing--as they close the doors of earth upon him--one verse,

For the heavy hearts of soldiers.