State of the “Dark and Bloody Ground,”
The trumpet peals its final sound
Down every mountain height arrayed
Comes thundering on the long brigade;
By every valley, pass, and river,
Sabres and bayonets flash and quiver;
Shame to the faithless son who falters
When impious hands assail their altars,
And fill each fount of happiness
With waves of woe and bitterness;
The dead their august shades present
By Frankfort’s Battle Monument;
Not now their souls can be at rest,
Though in the Islands of the Blest—
“Remember us,” their voices cry,
“When comes the hour of conflict nigh,”
And with or on thy shining shield,
Return, Kentucky, from the field.
CONFIRMATION AT ST. ANDREW’S.
[To Agnes, Louisville.]
I send this morning, Agnes dear,
A white and fragrant flower,
Emblem of maiden Hope and Love,
In Confirmation’s hour.
O, may the blessings which descend
This moment on thy head
On thy pure virgin heart and soul
Like precious fragrance shed.
I in life’s evening gloaming walk,
Thou in the morning bright,
Night’s blossoms I unfolding see,
Thou the Auroral light—
Yet all my heart in sympathy
Attends thy morning dreams,
For well I know the bitterness
Of life’s delusive streams.
A morning calm, a storm at eve,
At morn we joy, ere night we grieve:
So when the falling April showers,
Bringing the joy of birds and flowers,
’Neath the quick brush of golden sun
Catch rainbow colors one by one,
The liquid gems quick fade away
In dismal vapors cold and gray.
Lo, Juliet’s girlish bridal bed
With funeral flowers is quickly spread
Ere the brief marriage vows are said.
Sleeping in Capulet’s vault below
Her wedding night with Romeo.
Not “True Love’s Course” alone, but Man’s,
Never ran smooth since Time began,
Even ’mid the thunder shouts of friends
McKinley’s breast the bullet rends.
Wisdom, Wealth, Pleasure, Glory, Power,
Made Judah’s king rejoice:
Song, dance, and wine flowed free,—“Now comes
God’s judgment!” spoke a voice,
For earth is vain and life is frail
Since first the world began;
To fear and serve the living God
Is the whole lot of man.
Drink then, sweet Agnes, from the Fount
Of Christ’s Eternal Truth,
Till He shall bear thee o’er Death’s stream
To everlasting Youth.