RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO THE VOLUNTEERS OF BOTH SERVICES, BY ONE WHO ONCE WORE THE UNIFORM OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
Our soldiers with our sailors stand,
A bulwark firm and true,
To guard the banner of our land,
The Red, the White, the Blue.
The forts that frown along the coast,
The ramparts on the steep,
Are held by men who never boast,
But true allegiance keep.
While still in thunder tones shall speak
Our giants on the tide,
Rebuking those who madly seek
To tame the eagle's pride.
While breezes blow or sounding sea
Be whitened by a sail,
The banner of the brave and true
Shall float, nor fear the gale.
While Ironsides commands the fleet,
Shall patriot vows be heard,
Where pennants fly or war drums beat,
True to their oaths and word.
Then back, ye traitors! back, for shame!
Nor dare to touch a fold;
We'll guard it till the sunshine wane
And stars of night grow old.
Thus ever may that flag unrent
At peak and staff be borne,
Nor e'er from mast or battlement
By traitor hands be torn.
Mrs. Alice D. Abell.
Mrs. Abell has for several years contributed poems and articles to various papers and magazines. From the poems we select the following, which was copied in a Southern paper as well as in two others, from The New York Magazine in which it first appeared: