Honor the few who shared
Freedom's first fight, and dared
To face war's desperate tide at the full flood;
Who fell on hard-won ground,
And into Freedom's wound
Poured the sweet balsam of their brave hearts' blood.
They fell; but o'er that glorious grave
Floats free the banner of the cause they died to save.
In radiance heavenly fair,
Floats on the peaceful air
That flag that never stooped from victory's pride;
Those stars that softly gleam,
Those stripes that o'er us stream,
In war's grand agony were sanctified;
A holy standard, pure and free,
To light the home of peace, or blaze in victory.
Father, whose mighty power
Shields us through life's short hour,
To Thee we pray,—Bless us and keep us free:
All that is past forgive;
Teach us, henceforth, to live,
That, through our country, we may honor Thee;
And, when this mortal life shall cease,
Take Thou, at last, our souls to Thine eternal peace.
Francis Marion Crawford.
On March 15, 1889, a destructive hurricane visited the Samoan Islands. There were in the harbor of Apia, at the time one English, three German, and three American war-ships, sent there to safeguard the interests of their respective countries. The English ship, the Calliope, succeeded in steaming out of the harbor, the crew of the American flagship Trenton cheering her as she passed. The Trenton was wrecked a few minutes later, as were the five other ships in the harbor.
IN APIA BAY
(Morituri vos salutamus)
Ruin and death held sway
That night in Apia Bay,
And smote amid the loud and dreadful gloom.
But, Hearts, no longer weep
The salt unresting sleep
Of the great dead, victorious in their doom.
Vain, vain the strait retreat
That held the fated fleet,
Trapped in the two-fold threat of sea and shore!
Fell reefs on either hand,
And the devouring strand!
Above, below, the tempest's deafening roar!
What mortal hand shall write
The horror of that night,
The desperate struggle in that deadly close,
The yelling of the blast,
The wild surf, white, aghast,
The whelming seas, the thunder and the throes!