Stern warriors came in long array
To grace the conqueror’s pageant day:
Triumphant peeled the clarion’s tone
And spears and glancing armor shone,
Mid the dust of thousands sweeping by,
Like meteors in a midnight sky.
They’d left behind their hosts of slain
Upon the far-off battle plain,
And brought the marks of conquest back;
Proud trophies glittered on their track: