Off with the starry wreath,
Ye who have led our van;
To you 'twas the pledge of glorious death,
When we followed you over the gory heath,
Where we whipped them man to man.
Down with the cross of stars--
Too long hath it waved on high;
'Tis covered all over with battle scars,
But its gleam the Northern banner mars--
'Tis time to lay it by.
Down with the vows we've made,
Down, with each memory--
Down with the thoughts of our noble dead--
Down, down to the dust, where their forms are laid
And down with Liberty.
In the Land Where We Were Dreaming
By D. B. Lucas, Esq., of Jefferson.
Fair were our visions! Oh, they were as grand
As ever floated out of Faerie land;
Children were we in single faith,
But God-like children, whom, nor death,
Nor threat, nor danger drove from Honor's path,
In the land where we were dreaming.
Proud were our men, as pride of birth could render;
As violets, our women pure and tender;
And when they spoke, their voice did thrill
Until at eve, the whip-poor-will,
At morn the mocking-bird, were mute and still
In the land where we were dreaming.
And we had graves that covered more of glory
Than ever tracked tradition's ancient story;
And in our dream we wove the thread
Of principles for which had bled
And suffered long our own immortal dead
In the land where we were dreaming.
Though in our land we had both bond and free,
Both were content; and so God let them be;--
'Till envy coveted our land
And those fair fields our valor won:
But little recked we, for we still slept on,
In the land where we were dreaming.
Our sleep grew troubled and our dreams grew wild--
Red meteors flashed across our heaven's field;
Crimson the moon; between the Twins
Barbed arrows fly, and then begins
Such strife as when disorder's Chaos reigns,
In the land where we were dreaming.