By the Bivouac’s Fitful Flame

BY the bivouac's fitful flame,
A procession winding around me, solemn and sweet and slow—but 
 first I note,
The tents of the sleeping army, the fields' and woods' dim 
 outline,
The darkness lit by spots of kindled fire, the silence,
Like a phantom far or near an occasional figure moving,
The shrubs and trees, (as I lift my eyes they seem to be stealthily 
 watching me,)
While wind in procession thoughts, O tender and wondrous 
 thoughts,
Of life and death, of home and the past and loved, and of those 
 that are far away;
A solemn and slow procession there as I sit on the ground,
By the bivouac's fitful flame.