The foe long since in silence slept; Alike the conqueror silent sleeps; Down the dark stream which seaward creeps. On this green bank, by this soft stream, Spirit, that made those heroes dare To die, and leave their children free, Ralph Waldo Emerson [1803-1882] BATTLE-HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC MINE eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on. I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps; They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps; I can read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps; His day is marching on. I have read a fiery gospel, writ in burnished rows of steel: "As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal; Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel, Since God is marching on." The Eagle's Song 2135 He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call re treat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat: In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, Julia Ward Howe [1819-1910] THE EAGLE'S SONG THE lioness whelped, and the sturdy cub The lion-whelp sprang from the eyrie nest, Two were the sons that the country bore And now that the two are one again, And the lion cubs twain sing the eagle's song: "To be staunch, and valiant, and free, and strong!" Richard Mansfield [1857-1907] THE FLAG GOES BY HATS off! Along the street there comes A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, The flag is passing by! Blue and crimson and white it shines, Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines. Hats off! The colors before us fly; But more than the flag is passing by: Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great, Fought to make and to save the State: Weary marches and sinking ships; Cheers of victory on dying lips; Days of plenty and years of peace; March of a strong land's swift increase; Equal justice, right and law, Stately honor and reverend awe; Sign of a nation, great and strong To ward her people from foreign wrong: Live in the colors to stand or fall. Unmanifest Destiny Hats off! Along the street there comes A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums; And loyal hearts are beating high: Hats off! The flag is passing by! Henry Holcomb Bennett [1863 UNMANIFEST DESTINY To what new fates, my country, far Across the sea that knows no beach The guns that spoke at Lexington Knew not that God was planning then The trumpet word of Jefferson To bugle forth the rights of men. To them that wept and cursed Bull Run, Who saw behind the cloud the sun? Who knew that God was in the flame? Had not defeat upon defeat, Had never marched behind the drum. There is a Hand that bends our deeds 2137 I do not know beneath what sky Nor on what seas shall be thy fate; I only know it shall be great. Richard Hovey [1864-1900] ON A SOLDIER FALLEN IN THE PHILIPPINES STREETS of the roaring town, Hush for him, hush, be still! He comes, who was stricken down Doing the word of our will. Hush! Let him have his state. Give him his soldier's crown, The grists of trade can wait Their grinding at the mill, But he cannot wait for his honor, now the trumpet has been blown. Wreathe pride now for his granite brow, lay love on his breast of stone. Toll! Let the great bells toll Toll! Let him never guess What work we set him to. Laurel, laurel, yes; He did what we bade him do. Praise, and never a whispered hint but the fight he fought was good; Never a word that the blood on his sword was his country's own heart's-blood. A flag for the soldier's bier Who dies that his land may live; O, banners, banners here, That he doubt not nor misgive! |