Harvard University's Memorial Hall
Harvard University's Memorial Hall honors Harvard graduates who fought for the Union during the Civil War and represents the alumnus' heroism along with the school's needs for a large gathering space and theater.
Oliver Wendell Holmes composed the following hymn for the laying of Memorial Hall's cornerstone in 1870:
"Not with the anguish of hearts that are breaking
Come we as mourners to weep for our dead;
Grief in our breasts has grown weary with aching,
Green is the turf where our tears we have shed.
While o'er their marbles the mosses are creeping
Stealing each name and its record away.
Give their proud story to memory's keeping,
Shrined in the temple we hallow today.
Hushed are their battlefields, ended their marches.
Deaf are their ears to the drumbeat of mourn--
Rise from the sod ye far columns and arches!
Tell their bright deeds to the ages unborn.
Emblem and legend may fade from the portal,
Keystone may crumble and portal may fall;
They were the builders whose work is immortal,
Crowned with the dome that is over us all."
Building
