And the wayside brooks into violets turned;
The lilies tossed in the scented air,
The peach-boughs reddened, and whitened the pear.
Again on a Sunday came wonderful news,
And the little old woman who opened the pews
Again heard the shoutings of joy on the quay,
The cannon and answering gun on the sea.
But half-mast hung the flag on that battleship old.
Half-mast! Who had died ’mid the cabins of gold?
The grand ship rode into the harbor, and still