Look back through all thy storied past,
And sit erect in conscious pride:
No grander heroes ever died—
No sterner, battled to the last!
Weep, if thou wilt, with proud, sad mien,
Thy blasted hopes—thy peace undone,—
Yet brave, live on,—nor seek to shun
Thy fate, like Egypt's conquer'd Queen.
Though forced a captive's place to fill
In the triumphal train,—yet there,
Superbly, like Zenobia, wear
Thy chains,—Virginia Victrix still!
Margaret Junkin Preston.
Tidings of the fall of Richmond went over the North with lightning speed, and in every city, every town and hamlet, public demonstrations were held.
THE FALL OF RICHMOND
THE TIDINGS RECEIVED IN THE NORTHERN METROPOLIS (APRIL, 1865)
What mean these peals from every tower,
And crowds like seas that sway?
The cannon reply; they speak the heart
Of the People impassioned, and say—
A city in flags for a city in flames,
Richmond goes Babylon's way—
Sing and pray.
O weary years and woeful wars,
And armies in the grave;
But hearts unquelled at last deter
The helmed dilated Lucifer—
Honor to Grant the brave,
Whose three stars now like Orion's rise
When wreck is on the wave—
Bless his glaive.
Well that the faith we firmly kept,
And never our aim forswore
For the Terrors that trooped from each recess
When fainting we fought in the Wilderness,
And Hell made loud hurrah;
But God is in Heaven, and Grant in the Town,
And Right through Might is Law—
God's way adore.