PS 
 
 I 
 
 Our Roll of Honor 
 
 OR 
 
 POEMS OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
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 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
AMOR PATRI/t 
 
 OUR ROLL OF HONOR 
 
 OR 
 
 POEMS OF THE 
 REVOLUTION 
 
 JULIA CLINTON 'jONES 
 
 author of " valhalla, the myths of norseland," thk 
 '"Cleopatra" poems, "story of the ship" 
 
 . ETC., ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 1894 
 
 MAY 5 im'^] 
 
 _ 
 
 ~/w 
 
 

 0^ 
 
 Copyright, 1894 
 
 BY 
 
 JULIA CLINTON JONES 
 
 Electrotyped, Printed and Bound by 
 
 Ube "Rnicherbocfeer press, "Wcw IfforlJ 
 
 G. P. Putnam's Sons 
 
DEDICATED TO 
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN 
 REVOLUTION 
 
 AND TO 
 
 MRS. JANVIER LE DUG 
 
 AN HONORED OFFICER OF THE NEW YORK CITY 
 CHAPTER 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 OUR nation's birth-day I 
 
 OUR ROLL OF HONOR II 
 
 A MEMORABLE WEDDING-DAY ... 25 
 UNDERNEATH THE STARRY BANNER . 35 
 
OUR NATION'S BIRTH-DAY 
 
OUR NATION'S BIRTH-DAY. 
 
 DEDICATED TO MISS M. V. B. VANDERPOEL, 
 
 TREASURER OF 
 
 THE NEW YORK CITY CHAPTER. 
 
 ONE hundred years ago 
 A Nation sprang to life 
 From out the womb of woe, 
 
 Of battle, and of strife ; 
 A glorious labor gave 
 
 An infant giant birth, 
 Whose limbs great oceans lave, 
 Whose voice rings thro' the earth. 
 
 Hear the bells with peal and clang 
 Echoing from shore to shore — 
 
 Bells that long ago so rang 
 
 When the fearful fight was o'er. 
 
 3 
 
OUR NATION'S BIRTH-DAY. 
 
 When the joy-morn broke at last 
 Freedom rose o'er battle past, 
 And her starry coronet 
 On the Nation's forehead set. 
 
 The flag that waves so proudly 
 
 From every loyal roof, 
 The guns that peal so loudly, — 
 
 Each fold, each peal, a proof 
 Of love and deep devotion. 
 
 Our Country dear, to thee, — 
 These fill with strong emotion 
 
 Our hearts that we are free. 
 
 We are the guarders of our land ; 
 
 We are her breastworks tried ; 
 Her ramparts, towers, and forts shall 
 stand 
 
 In us, — be this our pride ! 
 
OUR NATION'S BIRTH-DAY, 7 
 
 And as this century now has brought 
 
 Rich gifts that it has won and wrought, 
 
 So let the future cycles tell 
 
 Of deeds that they shall bring as well ; 
 
 And let our hands not feeble prov^e 
 
 To fashion forth this work of love ; 
 
 Thus, in our generation, we 
 
 As master-builders great shall be, 
 
 While every stone by our hands set, 
 
 If not an arch or minaret. 
 
 Shall be a corner-stone, and there 
 
 Our sons shall grander fanes uprear. 
 
 Louder, louder, peal ye forth, 
 Cannon from the South and North ! 
 Praise to God, and jubilee 
 Thro' our land of Liberty ! 
 Loud, and long, and ever higher, 
 As our future hopes aspire ! 
 
OUR NATION'S BIRTH-DAY. 9 
 
 Foremost in the ranks of time 
 Stands our Country in her prime ; 
 Bright her constellations blaze 
 In the splendor of these days. 
 Ne'er let her weary in the race, 
 Nor drop one star from out its place ; 
 And as the centuries weave their woof, 
 'Gainst voice of syren sloth e'er proof, 
 Still shall she keep her station grand, 
 With Freedom's banner in her hand. 
 
 Peal and swing 
 
 On joyful wing ! 
 Let the waking Earth 
 Hail our Nation's birth ! 
 Hail the giant born ! 
 
 This is the morn 
 Which yet shall lead to grander days ; 
 
 Give God the praise ! 
 
OUR ROLL OF HONOR 
 
OUR ROLL OF HONOR. 
 
 DEDICATED TO MRS. ROGER A, PRYOR, 
 
 HONORARY VICE-PRESIDENT GENERAL OF THE 
 
 NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE DAUGHTERS OF 
 
 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 TYRANT chiefs and robber barons 
 Founded many an ancient line, 
 But we boast a prouder lineage 
 
 Sprung from hero-blood divine. 
 Let the Old World's haughty nobles 
 
 Quartered arms on 'scutcheons wear, 
 Won by knights and bold crusaders, — 
 
 Far more glorious shields we bear, 
 Graved with deeds of pure devotion, 
 
 Quarterings there of courage high, 
 ** Amor Patriae " our motto, 
 
 As it was their battle-cry. 
 
 Patriot fathers of our Nation, 
 
 Honor holds your mem'ries dear, 
 13 
 
OUR ROLL OF HONOR, 1 5 
 
 Plymouth's sons, and Jamestown's 
 scions, — 
 
 Puritan, and Cavalier ! 
 Rich or lowly, — one and equal, — 
 
 Rank by rank, and side by side. 
 Fought they in their Country's peril ; 
 
 Fought and conquered ! fought and 
 died. 
 Brilliant charge, and daring foray. 
 
 Hard-pressed field, determined stand. 
 Forced the hireling Hessian backward, 
 
 Drove the Briton from our land. 
 
 What tho' need and hunger faced them, 
 With their blood they earned the 
 price 
 
 Of our Freedom, — paid our ransom 
 With their grand self-sacrifice. 
 
 Never shall the rust of ages 
 
 Dim their glory, fade their fame, 
 
OUR ROLL OF HONOR. 
 
 For upon her trump heroic 
 
 History sounds each deathless name. 
 Let the key-note of her paean 
 
 Be the guns of Bunker Hill, 
 While thro' glorious choral ending 
 
 Yorktown's conquered cannon thrill. 
 
 But upon what Roll of Honor 
 
 Stand the deeds the women wrought ? 
 
 In what archives rest the records 
 Of the battles that they fought ? 
 
 When around the smouldering camp- 
 fire 
 Sentries paced, while on the earth 
 Soldiers slept, worn-out and wounded, — 
 
 By the distant cabin-hearth 
 Lonely women held their guard-watch — 
 Picket-corps — their pass-words, 
 prayer, — 
 
OUR ROLL OF HONOR. 
 
 Weaving home-spun, — moulding bullets 
 By the tallow-candles' flare. 
 
 When the echoing volleys thundered 
 
 Far away o'er hill and dale, 
 In the gray dawn, calm uprising, 
 
 From their midnight vigils pale, 
 Firmly bent they to their duties, 
 
 Crushing down their bitter pain, 
 Seized the plough-share left in furrow, 
 
 Sowed the seed, and ground the grain; 
 Tended flocks, and combed, and carded, 
 
 Then, at night their shuttles plied ; 
 Bread they brought the starving forces, 
 
 Strength and sinew thus supplied. 
 So, 'mid drum-beat and the bugle, 
 
 Patriot music through the gloom 
 From their hearths' intrenchments 
 sounded, — 
 
 Whirr of wheel, and fall of loom. 
 
OUR ROLL OF HONOR. 21 
 
 Nor alone beside the home-step 
 
 Wrought they in their country's cause; 
 Sought no gilded decoration ; 
 
 Cared not for the world's applause ! 
 Soothing, cheering, urging, aiding, 
 
 Piled they fires of Freedom high 
 That throughout the land to Britain 
 
 Showed the foe the way to fly. 
 
 Noble dames, with soiils unflinching, 
 
 Trusting in the God of Might, 
 Bearing warnings to the armies, 
 
 Galloped in the dead of night ; 
 To the front, 'mid thick of danger 
 
 Bore despatches, swerving not, 
 Fired their homes to save from pillage, 
 
 Manned the guns, and sped the shot. 
 
 Loyal women ! naught withholding 
 Home, nor gold, nor love, nor life ! 
 
OUR ROLL OF HONOR. 23 
 
 Naught of glory, — naught but honor 
 Claimed they from that fearful strife. 
 
 Grand reserve-troups ! there no orders, 
 There no epaulettes shall shine. 
 
 Yet when patriot forces muster, 
 They shall hold the vanward line. 
 
 Lo ! upon a Roll of Honor 
 
 Great and glorious, shines each name, 
 In the heart of this proud Nation ; 
 
 In the archives of her fame ! 
 
 With the arms our fathers won us, 
 
 Graven on each blood-bought shield 
 Are the deeds of those brave women 
 
 Quartered on the blazoned field. 
 Tho' no heralds sing their story 
 
 Pure thro' love and suffering made, 
 They shall march beside our heroes 
 
 Step with step at Grand Parade. 
 
A MEMORABLE WEDDING-DAY 
 
A MEMORABLE WEDDING-DAY. 
 
 DEDICATED TO MRS, DONALD McLEAN, 
 
 RECORDING SECRETARY OF 
 
 THE NEW YORK CITY CHAPTER. 
 
 WHILE the echoing Christmas 
 anthems 
 
 Mingle still with new-year chimes, 
 Meet we now to honor, sisters, 
 
 Memories of the olden times. 
 Sweet the fragrance of these roses, — 
 
 Gathered here are women fair, — 
 But there breathes a wafted perfume 
 
 Of magnolias on the air. 
 Dimly seen thro* lace-veiled windows, 
 
 Fancied peaks of Blue Ridge rise 
 Where in vales of Old Virginia 
 
 Ancient Fairfax County lies. 
 
 How your faces fade before me ! 
 
 And your tones — how faint and low ! 
 27 
 
A MEMORABLE WEDDING-DAY. 29 
 
 While thro' mists of long-gone dec- 
 ades 
 
 Shadowy figures come and go. 
 Softly 'mid the throbbing music 
 
 Ripples far Pamunkey's tide, 
 Rolling by the stately White House 
 
 Whence shall pass the lovely bride. 
 Magnates of the Old Dominion, 
 
 Laced and ruffled, grace the scene, — 
 Haughty dames and laughing maidens, 
 
 Youthful squires of gallant mien ; 
 Rich brocades and flashing jewels 
 
 Deck with pomp the bridal train, 
 For the Custis weds the hero 
 
 Crowned with bays from Fort Du 
 Quesne. 
 Sisters, 'mid this hum of voices. 
 
 Hear that nuptial strain ring on ! 
 Blessed day that gave our country 
 
 Such a Lady W^ashington ! 
 
A MEMORABLE WEDDING-DAY. 3 1 
 
 Such a matron ! Such a woman ! 
 
 Childless she, yet thro' the land 
 Lo ! we Daughters, patriot-sired, 
 
 Claim her mother of our band. 
 Faithful wife, and noble lady, 
 
 Brave and tender, just and true ! 
 When the blast from Freedom's 
 bugle 
 
 Loudly Patrick Henry blew, 
 When beyond the broad Potomac 
 
 Rang the notes from hill to hill, 
 Calmly sent she forth her hero, 
 
 Held her place beside him still. 
 Grandly, as tho' still dispensing 
 
 Favors from the mansion down. 
 Fearless graced she camp and cabin, 
 
 Middlebrook and Morristown ; 
 While the hand that erst touched spin- 
 net. 
 
 Wafted fan, or turned the wheel, 
 
A MEMORABLE WEDDING-DA V. 33 
 
 Still more gently soothed the suffering, 
 Kindling fires of patriot zeal. 
 
 So the love that lit Mount Vernon, 
 
 Warmed and brightened Valley 
 Forge,— 
 Shared the danger, — till our Eagle 
 
 Plucked the laurels from St. George ! 
 Till the roar of Yorktown's cannon 
 
 Died in echoes from the land, 
 And the nation called her soldier 
 
 In the highest place to stand. 
 
 Years have rolled beyond the century, — 
 All these scenes have passed away, 
 
 But the Bride from Old Virginia 
 In each heart is here to-day. 
 
UNDERNEATH THE STARRY 
 BANNER 
 
UNDERNEATH THE STARRY 
 BANNER. 
 
 DEDICATED TO MRS. BEN7AMIN HARRISON, 
 
 PRESIDENT-GENERAL OF THE NATIONAL SOCIETY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 U 
 
 NDERNEATH the starry ban- 
 ner, 
 
 Daughters I meet we here to-night, 
 With sweet strains of music 'round us, 
 Scent of flowers, and blaze of Hght ; 
 While our hearts send loyal greeting — 
 
 As we grasp each friendly hand — 
 Unto her, our honored sister, 
 Foremost lady of the land. 
 
 Thro' the swiftly changing measures, 
 Hark ! a martial symphony ! 
 
UNDERNEATH THE BANNER. 39 
 
 And beside our glowing colors — 
 
 Rent and stained, old banners see — 
 Shadowy flags that once were waving 
 
 O'er our men on field and flood, 
 Nailed unto the mast in battle. 
 
 Steeped in streams of patriot blood : 
 Flags that waved when first the cannon 
 
 Thundered out at Bunker Hill ; 
 With the Oriflamme's fair lilies, 
 
 Proud at Yorktown floated still ; 
 But, where shone the British emblem, 
 
 Gleamed the stars of Liberty, 
 And above the baffled Lion 
 
 Soared the Eagle of the free ! 
 Strangely, sisters ! how they mingle, 
 
 Faded hues and colors gay : 
 Strangely are the echoes rolling 
 
 From the old days, far away — 
 Trumpet-tones that roused our fathers, 
 
 ShriUing thro' that time of gloom, 
 
UNDERNEATH THE BANNER. 4 1 
 
 Like the blast of the Avenger, 
 
 Sounding forth oppression's doom. 
 
 'Mid the slowly sinking cadence 
 
 Sweeter voices softly float, 
 Earnest prayers of steadfast women 
 
 Breathe in each orchestral note : — 
 They who kept the watch-fires burning, 
 
 Soothed and cheered thro' all that 
 strife, 
 As at Valley Forge were hardships 
 
 Lightened by that noble wife. 
 To the front their loved ones urging, 
 
 Shared they all the bitter pain. 
 Sowed they wheat that fed the armies, 
 
 Spun the flax, and wove the skein. 
 Honor well that " wheel and distaff," 
 
 Teaching how our mothers wrought, 
 Spinning with the thread their heart- 
 strings, 
 
UNDERNEATH THE BANNER. 43 
 
 While our gallant fathers fought. 
 Let us cherish, then, our emblem, 
 
 Guard each life-strand from all 
 stains, 
 We, the daughters of such parents, 
 
 Patriot blood within our veins. 
 
 Grand reserve corps of the nation ! 
 
 Giving more than self for right ; 
 On the God of Battles caUing, 
 
 Trusting all unto His might ; 
 Armed with faith and firm devotion, 
 
 Other weapons dared they wield 
 In their need, as Jersey's Molly 
 
 Manned that gun on Monmouth 
 field. 
 On that stainless square of azure 
 
 Women's patience, women's prayer, 
 Holding up their soldiers' courage, 
 
 Set the stars more firmly there : 
 
UNDERNEA TH THE BANNER. 45 
 
 Standard-bearers of our freedom, 
 They who helped the flag to win, — 
 
 While the Union boasts her heroes, 
 Well she loves each heroine. 
 
 Women's prayers, and swords of heroes, 
 
 By their strength was freedom won. 
 Lo ! beside our country's father, 
 
 Stands our Mary Washington. 
 Noble type of female virtue ! 
 
 She who trained the arm that saved, — 
 Deep on history's living pages 
 
 Shall by love her deeds be graved. 
 Rear, then, sisters ! your memorial, 
 
 Tho' she needs no sculptured fame, 
 For the heart of this great people 
 
 Has enshrined her deathless name. 
 
 Now the strains of music quicken, — 
 Thrill as tho' from fife and drum ; 
 
UNDERNEATH THE BANNER. 47 
 
 Thro' its swell resounds the trampling 
 
 As the victor legions come. 
 *Mid the throngs, all gaily cheering, 
 
 Up from Bull's Head on they ride ; 
 With the generals closely pressing 
 
 By their well loved leader's side. 
 Clear the sky and bright the sun 
 shine, 
 
 Smoke of Yorktown passed away, — 
 So the echoes ring forever 
 
 Of Evacuation Day I 
 
 Lo ! the anthem of our glory ! 
 
 Faintly now the grand chords fall, 
 And the phantom flags have faded 
 
 From our colors on the wall. 
 On the heavy air still lingers 
 
 Fragrance that the flowers have shed, 
 But a sweeter perfume rises 
 
 From the lives of noble dead. 
 
UNDERNEATH THE BANNER. 49 
 
 Lower now the lights are burning, 
 And the band plays soft and slow. 
 
 Once again your hands at parting ! 
 Greeting, sisters ! ere we go. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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 018 597 856 4