Duke University Libraries Poem : "Confede Conf Pam l2mo #425 Dni3TS5fl3 poem:: 'CONFEDERATE AMERICA R. LYNDEK COWPEE. f Primum ego me illorum dederim Quibus esse poetii, Excerpam numero; Ingenium cui sit, cai mens divinior atque os "Magna sonaturum des, nominis hajug honorem. — Hon • Eik naphela gibborim. Wayobedu Kelee milchamah. How are the mighty fallen ! And the weapons of war peri3had!- • David. RALEIGH : AND JOS OFFICB 8TBAM POWER PREdS PRINT 1864. RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO £he PRESIDENT, THE CABINET, CONGRESS r AND THE TRIUMPHANT WARRIORS OF THE SOUTH. -,ui, f "CONFEDERATE AMERICA." tXow«a-. C*d. To q 0( j t ^ e Q reat Almighty King Let harps resound : attune and sing Of Jupiter, Mars, or Achilles, And gods of wars, and purpled seas, Of Titans torn on bloody field, And scarlet-wound, or batter'd shield, Of fallen Trojans— glory — fame, Bright laurels, and immortal name : Awake then Lyre, praise Father, Son, And Freedom's battles fought and won ! Rejoice ! a new born Kingdom's here ! A Land of splendor, fresh and dear ! Lo ! the night of gloom hath nearly gone ; Light's eye-lids ope ; Aurora's dawn Is blushing now; the redden'd sky Tells that the golden sun is nigh ! Let Freemen shout, and heroes reign O'er Southern clime and rolling main I View Americ's Land scarce in birth, Ere oppression's arm would crush to earth Our trusting heart and growing pride To hope and fortune here denied ! A jealous inU-: Made northern King crave freemen's dust ! Their shining arms, united power, Strove to pluck from us a flower ; But burnish'd sword, nor chary chief, Shall win a single scented leaf ! Their Navies proud swam mighty seas, And thought to rule a South with ease : Loud echoed trumpets, for the sound Of soldiers tramp so wide around. But Freemen rose, like Israel's band, For Altars dear and cherish'd land ! With sword unsheath'd flag on high, We swear to God to rule or die ! Loud, long and steady was oppression's roar By Freemen heard Prom tyrant's shore ; P47463 And thousands fell on bloody plain, Whilst distant fleets in stormy main, Fought bravely Surges of the Blue And bade the land a long adieu ! On mount or vale, on hill and field, March' d cowards with their shining shield : Then clash'd the steel and sabre-stroke — Then champions' wrath full high awoke — Then cannon boom'd ; carnage wide, Caused northern blood to flow in tide I Aloft our banner spread her wing, O'er southern clime and northern king I And heroes noble saw it there, Unmolested calm in native air ! Yes, Southrons saw it, true to sight, Near sun by day, by stars at night, Still onward, on, expand'd wing, Triumphant o'er a North and king ! That banner proud well knew the cause, And cheer'd a South in mighty wars : Yes, God, its Author, ba.de it soar Till tyrants' tramp be heard no more ! Ah, who could reign when he forbade ? When arm omnipotent oppression stayed ! Tho* contest hard, true history's page Shall deeds record of youth and age. Our banners wrap the fallen brave — They sleep in fame's immortal grave — Sound minister praise sire and son — Who live to soe their freedom won ! Yes victory's voice we'll hear at last — Triumph's trumpet shall give the blast — And shame, defeat, ah, fearful loss Their chieftains claim that fallen host — As back to country and her king To tell of us that clippid her wing!! Dark truly was our Nation's year — Thus rose the south thro' grief and tear — Dark were the clouds across our breast ; By trials here gain'd we rest ! The storms that black' d the once blue sky — The smoke that hid the sun's bright eye — : The soldiers' tramp across the plain — 7he mighty fleet that swarm the main — Their chiefs and lords, shall, ere long, have fled To sleep in shame's dishonored bed! The martial sound shall die away ; The star of hope shed bright its ray ; The morning light shall shine in peace ; To the rising of a modern Greece ! What heroes sprang to give us life ; What scenes of sorrow and of strife ; At their approach fair Freedom smiled ; With valiant hearts, unknown to guile ; By God preserved, true men to rule; In science skilled, war's bloody school! By genius led, eventful hand, Freedom's race was swift and grand! No foe could reach by ball nor shot; They soar'd above the markman's art ; Their shield was God, their anchor — truth ; Fortune's children from their youth ! No station high could tempt their soul; No hope of conquest made them bold ; They fought for Right, this their weal ; Thy country's cause their sacred Seal ! No blemish theirs from youth to age ; No less the hero than the sage ; Did tyrant's passion mark their speech ? Or vice to mortals did they teach? Stood not they as fair as mortal men ? Bright victors of a christian land ? O honored sons, ye fallen free; Great martyr-souls of Liberty ; Ye saw your South oppress' d by foes — Ye heard her sigh and felt her woes — Ye march'd amidst fierce battles rage — The grandest scene on history's page — P47463 Yes, calmly pointing to the stars — And God did bless the southern bars ! " Onward," cried ye — " To the strite j" And sublimity spent a hero-life S Your virtues shine like sabre-beam ; Your brows are laurel' d ever-green ; Thy fame shall dwell like planets high ; Triumphant in eternity S This sacred name, great Washington; He is our land's best noblest son ; Nor clime can point to such as he — Who snapp'd the chain, first made us free ! Yet distant worlds tell glory's deed ; Or loudly of their chieftains read ; Yet none shall speak in tones'sofair As can our Southern happy sphere ! O Macedon, write great Philip's* narne ; And Greece thy Alexander's fame; Let France pro> nd Bonapart; Or Rome high praise a Cse'sar's art; Let Wellington proud Britain boast : All tell their honor'd mighty host; . Yet tallest chief, like summer's sun — Virginia's pride — our Washington ! He is centre, earth's circle, fame ; Virtue's spotless, jewel'd name! Whilst stars revolve, he sheds his lustre bright ! And shines forever as a chiefwhile planets blaze at But struggles \ clouds withdrew ; [night! The light of peace appears to view ! Cease howling war and martial sound ; ■ Be heard nor move in camp around ; Sa\ Southern clime to joy awake; Triumphant made by sabre stroke! Loud sing, ye Virgins, true and fair, The Lay of Dixie — gleeful air; Whi 1 st y our lo \ e rs wa ve O'er the land of free and brave ! Tho' Beauty's cheek — there dwell a tear -red ones lost and kindred dear; Tho' mothers' heart's sad, weep for sen, d died on shield yet glory won ; Tho' many a rose shall pine 8 Whilst on the field her hero lav j Ah murmur not — each death was free — They fought for life and liberty ! Their sun is fair, tl in blood he had dipp'd his head, q last they g&zed upon his light To sleep in death's .immortal night ! Ah, at hia dawn he rose refresli'd. A South is free, pie blest ! union Southern join in hand peace go leaping thro' the land. Come, millions echo to our cause ; See freemen bi ; ust the laws; Let shouts above be loudly sent That Northern pi How dare they glories ever sing, Since we have clipp'd their showy wing* not their fleets once resplendent, brave, Dispute our right upon the wave Nor " armies attempt to rei On blooming clime or foaming n 'Tis Northern pride to oft disti The weak enslave, the kind oppr< soul is where her interests lead ; : heart is just with: who would bind this nation free Deserves the scorn of I The pen, the mind, are e'er ■ -, — Defv the king upon hia throne ! tyranta love themselves and law-. — ir ties for freedom are as straws : : smile's deceit, the deed is done; The South is free, her battle'swonl No foreign foe, nor ruler's chain ". fetter freedom's land again: s Her sons are strong, "brave the race ; Her march is on and quick her pace ; Upwards be her power and name, To top the mounts of grandest fame ; And as a giant on she'll stride, Thro' the realms of glory pride ! Be not depress'd by vision true, — Arise, my South, to North adieu ! Arise, as suns, resistless rise, And bound along the happy skies: Thy strength and glory, grandeur, state, Shall tower high, make thee great, Yes, science, fortune, genius, fame, Shall carve for thee a deathless name ! God form'd the South not for the vile, — He lends it us a little while ; ^Twas for the brave such as we To live and die in Dixie ? This Edon-clime shall e'er remain Thro' countless ages still the same : Here let us meet, commingle free, And drink good health to liberty ! Blest land of the South, our fathers' dear home, How proudly thy sons o'er it gladly shall roam ; Sweet sphere of the brave, just clime 01 the true, Thy oceans are grand and skies are of blue : Thy name shall awaken a hope in the breast, "Where stranger may come to find him a rest : Dear land of my soul, fair clime of my heart, Great is thy prowess, mighty in art; Arise unto honors, yet to thee unknown, And fortune and splendor be ever thine own ; O land of the South, blest home of the free, Fair souls of thy race turn fondly to thee ! O'er Europe's herders, in ev'ry sphere, Thy name is sacred, noble, dear; Thy glories prais'd, thy virtues sung By human harps and mellow tongue \ All turn to freedom's blissful home, Anel wish their lot as is our own : Here, civil rights, religious laws, Exemption from intestine wars, Produce a charm, create a joy, Free from any base alloy I Here, man is monarch, no royal line Shall laud it o'er the hapless mind : Wtu;t nobler clime possess'd by man f Where claims so grea; as sunny land / For self, mortal, see, look 'round ; Survey thy wealth, and clas-ic ground ! What grandeur, moral, beauty state ! How happy thou, and people's fate! What brilliant past, what future fair ! What glory '11 hang around it there ! A present too that richness lend A charm beyond the poet's pen ! Land of the South where free-men dwell, — Where, in whose cause, her children fell, — Gaze, heroes, on thy grand domains, — See objects fit for Homer's strains! View verdant valleys, bubbling streams; Rolling oceans, western scenes; Bold mountains stretch, and flow'ry valee : Cooling breezes, scented gales ; Aud cities great in science, art; Commerce trading, learning, mart ; See millions smiling fertile plain; Harvest stor'd, golden giain; Whilst starry banners yet shall float On cv'ry water, stream of note. Turn to her hist'ry, battles, shield ; Glories won on bloody field; To statesmen, poets, hero, sage ; To virgins fair, of blooming age ; O who can fail to love his home ? Who would forsake, and other own ? When by his side, a land so free, — This charming clime of liberty ! 10 Here, Nature lends lier charms to man ; Here, painters, poets, brush and pen, Sketch, her scences, give in rhyme, Her richest views, immortal line S ]N"o Alpine grandeur, Italian grace, Can surpasss her vari'd face ! Great rivers gush, or splendid wind Side towring mounts, all clad in vine : What vales so sweet, or climes so fair As blooming Dixie's valleys are ! Search ancient worlds for scenery bright, - Let tourists of their grandeur write, — Or laud to skies their glory, fame, — Amidst their mighty lasting name, — Yet in this sphere of free-men brave, Where heroes' deeds triumphant wave, Are splendors from our God above, Shower 'd widely in His love ! "What land where suns so brilliant shine ? Where stars so softly rise, decline ? Where mounts or moons, or floods or vale. Or hill, or lake, or fount, or cave, Appear to eye wrapped so sub: As those of sunny Southern clime ? Land of the South, thy race is true ; Exalted more none ever knew ! O woman chaste, — e'er fair and free, — Grand goddess of our Liberty ! Thy daughters sweetest, brightest, best, In our charming clime of West : No foreign eye can equal theirs, — No iount of soul of purer tears, — Nor form, nor feature, native grace, — None living of diviner face ! ■ O beauty-belles of sunny soil, For thee we live and ever toil ! On Blue-ridge mount of winter-sr,;, Our lassies look like summer-rose ; Down deep in Dixie maidens seen 11 Like flow'rets wild en plains J" In eastern shores or climes- of we? — All, all by nature lovely, b> Thy sons descend from noble Who hold great virtues a"d t Should net they e'e 3 be And rule this land of 1. Yes, let their banners stream on high, Bold as beacons in I The boast, the pride of earth r~ The star of hope is Son Yes, noblest sphere, exempt from . — Young Dixie is true Freedom' On us are tyes of-' — Yes us, who cropped his The bird who soared within Is comins: down on eai I He upwards t Amon and prou In lofty ~~~ Th Eepi And with them too thei ath to tyi No breath is fetter'd ii oi ; She gives to mortal thought ; Free" No limb, no actio?. Lest justice and injusl "Well may the des[ The coining grandeur of our ns Guard firm, Free-men : I Tempting in the colder No ■ Or kingly O'er jf i To their God and Sphere of the brave, e; Onwards, upwards, move thro' time : 12 May on thy seas grand Navies ride, May white-wing' d commerce and blue-tide^ Bear off our cotton, corn and wheat, Bring products good from foreign State ! Rise, millions, rise, — 'tis glorious morn, — Praise in thunders the Nation's dawn t Rnd,*0 labor, thy just reward ; The humble great as is the lord ; Come harvest with thy plenty stores ; Come tropic fruits from distant shores : Let art a»l science unsurpass'd — Let virtue, learning, rival, — yes Reach far beyond the brightest mind Of any other noted clime ! Here, sculptor, hew for self a name — Give thy genius deathless lame — Here poets write, and upwards fly — (With crippl'd wing, alas ! we try) — And tho' they mount to realms of bliss, We are destined — chain* d to this ! IVIy country fears no artist-feand That shall exceed her genius-man ; Her merchants rich, they speak with pride ; Sound are their names, their honer wide ; Her tradesmen true ; with honest heart Extend their blessings and their art ! Her farmers till the fertile plain — Feed foreign spheres with native grain — They dwell in plenty j millions blest — In this kingdom of the west 1 Her docks shall throng with countless sail ;; And from all lands of distance hail j Her schools shall thicken as stars in sky ; Her college turrets reach on high ; Let public mind receive a share Of learning free and people's care ; This gives to nations strength and pride, And swells her streams to mighty tide ! The Press xmtrammeird ! shed thy ray j. 13 It gives us one perpetual day ! Its virtue, power, goodness, truth. Are felt by age, by manhood, youth. The Press ! 'tis our country's boast — Tis college great for peasant host — Here, all may learn but for a dime, The deeds of home or foreign clime! Ye noble men, who hold the Press, — ! Let talents shine — thy country bless ; Transmit her thus to future time, Enlighten man, improve the mind ! Here statesmen rule, commanding great ; Be thou fore'er the pride of State ! Here orators, patriots, or science, cause, Or such fair vers'd in science, laws ; Divines — all men of rank, degree, Stand, nobly stand in unity ! Our armies' triumphs brilliant are — Our heroes weapon's brightly glare — Our navy shall resplendent burn — Be glitt'ring as the polished sun ! And virtues swell a Nation's breast ; High thoughts their souls do deep invest ; Morals lofty fill each heart, And a good to all impart. Yes, Southrons ecern to waste their hours — They ever mount the highest towers — And joyous millions here are blest By action constant, free from rest ! " Onward, onward, ever on" In county, city, village, town j This the motto ©f the free, In our land of liberty. If sush the present, what shall it be ? What shall the future yet tell of thee ? Now glorious, still more glorious, great, Shall be thy name and honored state. Time's ceaseless wheel shall onward roll ; Splendors nobler shall yet be told ; 14 Thine art: , ! ; ei ye t sh all rise ; Thy learning reach fame's utmost skies; hy virtues, flrowledge, scdence, sense, hine honors, ppwe;s, competence, hine fortune,, commerce, ''name and trade And all th n be said, Shall ton 3t round of fame, And give to thee eternal name ! Mighty nation o ave, E'er may ■ ; c ; Thine em, hifrom sea to sea, Thine bre y ! Let ruthless hands ne'er molest The seeds of gi i thy breast; Nor tyrant's sceptre ever wave O'er this Eden < ive 1 This empire broad, God's choicest gem E'er virtue's wreath be thy diadem. This hallow'd gift, this precious boon, Vouch saf'd by heav'n, by chieftains won; By time more lustrous be thou made Whilst ma ay a land is lowly laid. Columbia 2 let thy torches brightly blaze ; Let tongues of millions give thee praise ; Let distant nations turn their eye Toward s o 1 1 . 1 1 d genial sky, And, cheer'd by vision, firm declare To breathe alone but freedom's air. Let their vows be made on high, — To do as Dixie, or to die. Yes, snap tke chains tha* fetter mind ; Bow but to Him, the All-Divine ! My country ! ascend ye temples to the stars- Preserve, O God, our cross and bars — Let them onward massive grow, Earth's admiration here below. May they ever grandly tower — Increase in beauty, virtue, power. All eyes are now upon the brave ; 15 Tho' tyrants en Monarchs hate, swtfB^^^^^H When liberty she .' its Yes, Southrons, guflB -d — Ye children oj^ chnlfei • !ood • ' ':u' ■ A a 1 1 O'er fallen he. Let Nation's t id fell to give us birth. — • May ev'ry >' dead, they li. Place, high To si A monument q Reard by God to Grov. There sleep the brave of Nation's doom ! Ye stars, ye suns, ye climes above, h in thy U Blow ye zephyrs, scent the a r ; e, millions, co Jy round }\h- Ye chieftains, warriors, surviving now, Thy South of glory crowns thy brow; Thy laurels green — miUigm rah- United vol. : In South ty ! By our past of splendid deed , By the hist'rv of our freed ; By our present, future fa Swear to keep our honor'd name ! Can our glory e'er be 1 If we remember what it cost f 16 By the blood spilt on the field — By the deaths upon the shield — By bold battles on blue wave — By the tracks that glory made — , Swear to love thy country best, Hoping for her constant rest ! Palsied be the arm and tongue That move to tear our temples down ; And dark the soul that hopes to tell Of Freedom's fall or where she fell ! Columbia Soutfy thou queen of skies 'Ihon gem of earth to honor rise : Let fairest smiles around thee play; Let genius light thee with its ray ; Whilst on thy ramparts banners stream; Below them wave rich fields of green. Be lasting as thine granite- hills ; Untarnish'd as thy pearly nils ; On rock eternal thou shall stand, Protected e'er by " Freedom's Band J " No tempest, Ptorm, shall sweep away This blooming spot of Liberty ! Whilst God permits the sun to stand Alike shall reign Americ's land j Bold as planets in the sky, As ev'ning shadows gather nigh ! Then flourish in immortal youth, Thou land of love, and child of truth! Shout millions, shout — the day is won J 'Tis Freedom's dawn, and glory's sun ! Boom cannons, boom — and loud!?/ roar In thund'ring praise from sea to shore ! Rise chieftain, rise — thou hast claim To honors and immortal name ! Sing Virgins, sing — let earth delight In scenes of peace, in truth and might! Sound timbrel, sound — hail JVat'onfrec f Our Gvdj our Cross, and Liberty! Hollinger Corp, P H8.5