"DON'T FEAR DEATH, MEN." REPULSE OF THE REBELS AT FORT DONELSON, TENN., FROM Donelson's stern, serried heights, Where patriots and traitors are meeting; Remember the land of the West Our homes toward the sun's golden settingThat the hearts which have loved us the best May have naught for reproach or regretting! Strike home for our banner to-day; For our country-God's blessings upon her!For the blood-baptized flag of the free; "Don't fear death, men, fear only dishonor!" Brave words, of a brave, loyal heart, Fair sunlight for death's frowning portal; Embalm them, O, centuries grand, In their patriot beauty, immortal! Ring out that brave rallying cry; For our country-God's blessing upon her!For the blood-baptized flag of the free; "Don't fear death, men, fear only dishonor!” H. R. M. THE WONDERFUL RIVER IS SILENT NOW. THE RISING OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, FEBRUARY 20TH, '63. THE wonderful river is silent now, Its current is rapid as ever before, Vain are the riches of valley and plain, All in that wonderful land; For the river that wedded the North and the South Is closed at the middle and closed at the mouth, Closed by an iron hand. On the limitless prairies the corn may grow rank, And down in the valleys below, The cotton and cane may flourish in vain, 'Till God shall see fit to sunder the chain That severs the palm from the snow. The navies that float on the wonderful stream Destruction and death through the valleys they bear; The cities are sullen and sorrowful now; Their beauty is wasted and worn. The hamlets and towns are shattered and burned, The panther, the bear, and the wolf have returned To the fields of the cotton and corn. WM. H. WILLETT. IN WAR TIME. CELEBRATION OF WASHINGTON'S BIRTH-DAY. FEBRUARY 22D, '63. ONCE more, dear friends, you meet beneath A clouded sky: Not yet the sword has found its sheath, And, on the sweet spring airs the breath Of war floats by. Yet trouble springs not from the ground, Nor pain from chance; Th' Eternal order circles round, And wave and storm find mete and bound In Providence. Full long our feet the flowery ways Of peace have trod, Content with creed and garb and phrase; A harder path in earlier days Led up to God. Too cheaply truths, once purchased dear, Are made our own; Too long the world has smiled to hear Our boast of full corn in the ear By others sown. To see us stir the martyr fires Of long ago; And wrap our satisfied desires In the singed mantles that our sires But now the cross our worthies bore Profession's quiet sleep is o'er, And in the scale of truth once more The cry of innocent blood at last An answer in the whirlwind blast, The land is red with judgments. Who. Have we been faithful as we knew, This day the fearful reckoning comes. We hear amidst our peaceful homes Our path is plain; the war-net draws While, faithful to the Higher Cause, The leveled gun, the battle brand But, calmly loyal, we can stand: JOHN G. WHITTIER. YE SONS AND SIRES OF LIBERTY. PASSAGE OF THE NATIONAL MILITIA BILL, FEBRUARY 25тн, '63. YE sons and sires of Liberty, To war's fierce cry awake! Give up your joys, give up your lives, Give up your homes, your joys, and all, Ye sons and sires of Liberty, In marshalled hosts arrayed, Dear Freedom's course-betrayed! Ye war for Freedom and for Right, Give up your homes, your joys, and all, Ye sons of Liberty. J. HENRY HAYWARD. |