THE piping of our slender, peaceful reeds Whispers uncared for while the trumpets bray;

Song is thin air; our hearts' exulting play Beats time but to the tread of marching deeds,

Following the mighty van that Freedom leads,

Her glorious standard flaming to the day! The crimsoned pavement where a hero bleeds

Breathes nobler lessons than the poet's lay. Strong arms, broad breasts, brave hearts, are better worth

Than strains that sing the ravished echoes dumb.

Hark! 't is the loud reverberating drum Rolls o'er the prairied West, the rock-bound

We have scowled, when you uttered some turbulent threat;

But Friendship still whispered, 'Forgive and forget!'

Has our love all died out? Have its altars grown cold?

Has the curse come at last which the fathers foretold?

Then Nature must teach us the strength of the chain

That her petulant children would sever in

vain.

They may fight till the buzzards are gorged with their spoil,

Till the harvest grows black as it rots in the soil,