"Be happy, my good soldier; I am by thee,

Be sure, even to the end!"—I answered not,

Knowing him. As he spoke, I was endued

With comprehension and a steadfast will;

And when he ceased, my brow was sealed his own.

If there took place no special change in me,

How comes it all things wore a different hue

Thenceforward?—pregnant with vast consequence,

Teeming with grand result, loaded with fate?

So that when, quailing at the mighty range