4.

The air above seemed heavy with errant souls,

Dense with ghosts from those gory forms arisen,—

Each rudely driven from its prison,

’Mid the harsh jar of rattling musket-rolls,

And quivering throes, and unexpected force;

In helpless waves adrift confusedly,

Freighting the sombre haze without resource.

Through all there trickled, from the pitying sky,

An infinite mist of tears upon the ground,