Click on the pictures to see enlarged versions of the images.

Friday, November 11, 2011

A Nation’s Builders


Each Friday we provide the link to the blog that is hosting a celebration of poetry around the blogosphere. At that site you can find the links to the many other blogs that are posting poems (new and old), discussions of poems, and reviews of poetry books. It’s also a great way to explore the internet.

Enjoy the festivities!

The hosts this week are Six Children’s Authors Who Also Teach Writing.

You can visit them here at their blog, Teaching Authors.


(The Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial in
England, which contains the remains of 3,812 of U. S.
military who died either in the Battle of the Atlantic or
the strategic air bombardment of northwest Europe
during World War II.)

Today is Veterans Day in America (known as Remembrance or Armistice Day in the Commonwealth and other countries), when we honor those who so loved their fellow countrymen they were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.

A NATION’S BUILDERS

Not gold, but only men can make
A people great and strong —
Men who, for truth and honor’s sake,
Stand fast and suffer long.

Brave men who work while others sleep,
Who dare while others fly —
They build a nation’s pillars deep;
They lift them to the sky.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American poet and essayist

3 comments:

GatheringBooks said...

Emerson has always been a staple for me. I remember reading him deep into the night. Thanks for reminding me of those moments. :) great photo as well!

Linda B said...

A lovely remembrance. I wish others would believe "Not gold but only men can make/A people great and strong."

Tara said...

They build a nation’s pillars deep;
They lift them to the sky.

Love those lines...we need to remind ourselves about this more often, and truly honor their service.