THE SIEGE OF QUEBEC.
I.
PRELUDE.
Thou peerless Queen of peerless land! in nature's choicest zone,
Thou sitt'st in regal dignity upon thy rocky throne;
The glorious memories of the past thy future glories greet,
And fadeless laurels wreathe thy brow, as ocean laves thy feet.
Fair home of faithful, loyal hearts! shrine of the hero-dead!
Whose valor rested not till hid within its gory bed;
Right royal sitt'st thou on thy heights, with Empire's flag unfurled,
The brightest gem, by sea or plain, of all this newer world.
Thou had'st thy skilful mariners, who crossed an unknown sea;
Thou had'st thy famous warriors, thy far-brought peasantry
Who cleared the tangled forest shades, and in the greenwood wild
Prepared an exile's home to lodge the mother with the child.
And thou had'st saints, those holy ones who feared nor shame nor loss,
Who o'er their altars raised aloft the standard of the Cross;
Who suffered torture's keenest pangs, whose souls were winged on high
From bloody knife and cruel flame—such lives may never die.
Softly, Oh winds of the south-land! Float over valley and steep; Bathe with your incense of perfume The spot where the martyrs sleep.
Tenderly, winds of the ocean! Rippling the streamlet's bright waves. Pause in your flight o'er the mountains; Fan with your freshness their graves.
And thou! Oh breeze off the pine-lands! Far over the glorious West Sing forth the grandeur of soul-life From groves where the holy rest.