Byron Adams Ashes of Soldiers for unaccompanied chorus by Prof. Byron Adams

This performance was conducted by Jane Ring Frank; the ensemble was Boston Secession. The text is by Walt Whitman from one of his Civil War elegies. "Ashes of Soldiers" is published by E.C. Schirmer.

Ashes of Soldiers

I chant this chant of my soul in the name of all dead soldiers.
Faces so pale with wondrous eyes, very dear, draw close,
Gather closer yet, but speak not,
Phantoms of countless lost,
Invisible to the rest henceforth become my companions,
Follow me ever – desert me not while I live.
Sweet are the blooming cheeks of the living –
Sweet are the musical voices sounding,
But, sweet, ah sweet, are the dead with their silent eyes.
Dearest comrades, all is over and long gone,
But love is not over – and what love, O comrades!
Perfume from battle-fields rising, up from the battle arising,
Perfume therefore my chant, O love, immortal love,
Give me to bathe the memories of all dead soldiers,
Shroud them, embalm them, cover them all over with tender pride,
Make these ashes to nourish and blossom,
O love.

Adapted by Byron Adams from “Ashes of Soldiers”
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass