Memorial Day, which was founded as Decoration Day in 1868, is an occasion to remember those who lost their lives while serving the United States of America. One powerful way to honor the fallen is by reading and sharing poems of war, remembrance, sacrifice, and valor.
Browse the following classic and contemporary poems, including several written by poets who died in service to their countries.
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Classic Poems for Memorial Day
“For the Fallen” by Laurence Binyon
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children…
“To My Brother” by Vera Brittain
Your battle-wounds are scars upon my heart…
“Before Marching, and After” by Thomas Hardy
Orion swung southward aslant…
“Not to Keep” by Robert Frost
They sent him back to her. The letter came …
“Rouge Bouquet” by Joyce Kilmer
In a wood they call the Rouge Bouquet…
“The Spires of Oxford” by Winifred M. Letts
I saw the spires of Oxford …
“In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow…
“Shiloh: A Requiem” by Herman Melville
Skimming lightly, wheeling still…
“Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen
What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
“Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks...
“Break of Day” by Siegfried Sassoon
There seemed a smell of autumn in the air...
“Ode in Memory of the American Volunteers Fallen for France” by Alan Seeger
Ay, it is fitting on this holiday…
“The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Half a league, half a league...
“Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night” by Walt Whitman
Vigil strange I kept on the field one night…
“The Watchers” by John Greenleaf Whittier
Beside a stricken field I stood…