68

THE SOLDIER'S LETTER.

What tears I must shed for my country, Though none I may weep for you!

THE SOLDIER'S LETTER.

HOW sweet, when night her misty veil

Around the weary soldier throws,
And twilight's golden skies grow pale,
And wooing winds invite repose,
To sit beside the watchfire's blaze,

Where friendly comrades nightly come,

To sing the song of other days,
And talk of things we love at home,

Of those we love and list and wait,
Beneath the same benignant moon.
The postman's step behind the gate,
With tidings from the absent one;
And beaming smiles their thoughts reveal,
And love is mirrored in their eyes,
As eagerly they break the seal,
Elate with joy and glad surprise.

But dearer yet the shout that rings
In exultation loud and clear,

THE SOLDIER'S LETTER.

To hail the messenger who brings

Letters from home and kindred dear; And 'neath the pale moon's smiling light The soldier reads his treasure o'er; And through the hours of silent night, In dreams he visits home once more.

In dreams he sits beside the hearth,

Afar from camps and traitor's wiles, And deems the dearest spot on earth Where loving wife and mother smiles And many a face almost forgot,

And many a word so fondly spoken,
Come flitting round the soldier's cot,
Till the sweet dream, at morn, is broken.

O ye who love the soldier well,

Bid him be hopeful, brave, and gay;
Better he knows than you can tell,
The perils that attend his way.
Some word of hope in battle's hour,
While striving with a vengeful foe,
Has nerved the soldier's arm with power,
To strike or ward the impending blow.

The soldier brave is often prone

To deem himself forgotten quite,

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GOD SAVE THE NATION!

A wanderer on the earth alone,

When friends at home neglect to write.
Then cheer him oft with words like these,
And thus your deep affection prove;

Let every keel that ploughs the seas
Bear him some message full of love.

GOD SAVE THE NATION!

A WAR HYMN.*

BY THEODORE TILTON.

HOU who ordainest, for the land's salvation,

THO

Famine, and fire, and sword, and lamentation, Now unto Thee we lift our supplication —

God save the Nation!

By the great sign, foretold, of Thy Appearing,
Coming in clouds, while mortal men stand fearing,
Show us, amid this smoke of battle, clearing,
Thy chariot nearing!

By the brave blood that floweth like a river,
Hurl Thou a thunderbolt from out Thy quiver!

*This hymn has been twelve times set to music.

THE MEN WHO FELL IN BALTIMORE. 71

Break Thou the strong gates! Every fetter shiver! Smite and deliver!

Slay Thou our foes, or turn them to derision!
Then, in the blood-red Valley of Decision,
Make the land green with Peace, as in a vision
Of fields elysian!

THE MEN WHO FELL IN BALTIMORE.

BY JOHN W. FORNEY.

UR country's call awoke the land,

From mountain height to ocean strand;
The Old Keystone, the Bay State, too,
In all her direst dangers true,
Resolved to answer to her cry,

For her to bleed, for her to die;

And so they marched, their flag before,
For Washington, through Baltimore.

Our men from Berks and Schuylkill came-
Lehigh and Mifflin in their train :
First in the field, they sought the way,
Hearts beating high and spirits gay:

Heard the wild yells of fiendish spite,

72 THE MEN WHO FELL IN BALTIMORE.

Of armed mobs on left and right;
But on they marched, their flag before,
For Washington, through Baltimore.

Next came the Massachusetts men,
Gathered from city, glade, and glen:
No hate for South, but love for all,
They answered to their country's call.
The path to them seemed broad and bright ;
They sought no foeman and no fight ;
As on they marched, their flag before,
New England's braves, through Baltimore.

But when they showed their martial pride,
And closed their glittering columns wide,
They found their welcome in the fire
Of maddened foes and demons dire,
Who, like the fiends of hell sent forth,
Attacked these heroes of the North:
These heroes bold, with travel sore,
While on their way through Baltimore.

From every stifling den and street,

They rushed the gallant band to meet,
Forgot the cause they came to save,

Forgot that those they struck were brave,
Forgot the dearest ties of blood