l,°*i v°^ fe W •* r^ »^5X%**- o 4* ^ <£ I ^ f ^ /* . 1 /\.-^,-\ /\ > " A ^ V ^ THE C3l>2 A SERIES OF ORIGINAL POEMS. ■}. V BY C RUSSELL CHRISTIAN. E3STXj-A.I?,C3-E!ID EDITIOUST. HUNTINGTON, W. VA. PRINTED AT THE ARGUS BOOK AND JOB OFFICE. 1885. I I* EptCred according \6 act qf Qougre.ss in the ;jef^ 1881 , BY CHARLES RUSSELL CHRISTIAN, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1885, BY CHARLES RUSSELL CHRISTIAN, In the Office of the Librarian of .Congress at Washington, The Dedication. Huntington, January 2, 1885. DEAR S1R- In republishing these pieces how shall I address myself to the public? Like one -of- -England's Bards, I hardly know whether to regard myself as building a monument or as bury- ing the dead. I have, been for six years the pioneer of Song in this songless land; and When T Would have laid down my pen in disgust, and retired from .the dangerous paths of Song, it was at your request that I again entered, the field, and with the motto of "Try, try again, "took up anew the burden of Life. ' TV,.:. As to how I have succeeded, the world may judge for itself. But those whose friendship I most desire, and to re- ceive whose approval is my highest ambition, will not be led by unfair criticism to doubt my honest endeavor to sow the seeds of literature in this hitherto barren land. To you these rhymes are justly due for encouragements extended when Hope itself had begun to fail. C. RUSSELL CHRISTIAN. To Dr. W. P. Bryan. ¥ RRATA. In the following table only those errors are noted which might obscure the sense intended. Also some changes rec- ommended by the author : Page 16, line 14, read " signs" for " sign." Page 26, line 2, read "in ruins overcast.'' Page 31, line 2x, read "ravishment" for " vanishment." Page 41, line 1, include "a" in quotation. Pages 60 and 51, let final line of each stanza of " The De ity " be *' Alas for human love below I" Page 76, line 5, read " Tis" for " Tie." Page 98. line 21, read " solace" for " salace." Page 102, line 3, insert " land " after " and." Page 103, Hup 28, read "setst" for " sets." Page 104, line 8, read "charge" for " feat." Page 118, line 6, read " Americ's " for " Amric's." Tabl 5 of Contents. The SoDg of War, The Foot-Prints of Time, FIRST. 9 10 The Glance at War, 12 17 To an Old Sword, The Glance Through Time, The Vision ©f the World, 18 19 22 24 The Reign of Peace, The Song of Oblivion, 25 ..... 25 szEoonsro. 26 26 The Oblivion of Death, 27 The Oblivion of the Past, 28 30 The Vision of Oblivion, 32 :f^:r,t THIRD. 34 36 37 At tbe Grave of Napoleon, 38 39 40 The Crime of Guiteau, 41 ... 42 6 THE MO VNTAIN BA h D. The Death of Piza»-ro, 43 The Count Pulaski 44 The Crime of Booth, 45 Lafayette in Prison, 46 Washington, • 46 Death of Louis XVI 47 Mahomet, 47 ZF-A.IR/r FOURTH. The Prelude, «... . -.. 48 The Reijrn of Love, 49 The Destiny, ■•<••,"•••... •.-.'.: :■• v z 50 To Jealousy, ' ........ 51 To Victoria, ...... ......... 52 Restlessness, '.. ....;.... 53, On New Year's Day, ;'■' ......... 54 At the Close of Day, 5H Timberlee, ;..: .;......* 57 To a Sweet Singer, ..... ......... 5$ «' I Ne'er Shall Smile Again/' .-.' . . .". ...... . . 59 1 he Lover's Farewell, 60. To My Betrothed ;.. .......... 61 The Curse of Fate. . 62 The Autograph, 63 The Declaration, ... ......... , 64 To an Early Friend, ......... 65 The Power of Love, 66 To Time, ... :v.. . . v . . . 67 ToMiriam, .....:... 67 Love ...... 68 The Lover's Return, I .:\ . . 69 To My Abspnt Dove, ...... .. 69 Absence, 70 On the Cliff, ; ........ . 71 Lines to Miriam, . . .:. ..... 72 The Farewell, 73 TheEpitaph, . ..«,.... • 74 :p.a.:r,t fifth:. The Atheist, ......... ° ....... ..; 75 The Hereafter, .....:... 76 The Threateners .'. ...77 SHE, MQfm4I& BAUD. 7 , The Impious Farmers, 78 The Papa! Interdict,' T.°. . ■ "" f% °. : : . . .......... 80 The Scriptures*,. V." . . ""'.".* .° ".... °',.V... 80 The Ship of Youth; :::.... ^ :....;. ^; y : ...... 81 The Crucifixion, ...... ":..;.' "''- ' : "'". ''. '. '. '..- 8:> The Mdrniiig Hymn, ".'.'. °..... ....,- 84 Is There a'GVid? .. . """„....... ' c \;^'..... x "85 The Day is O'er, 87 The Evening Hymn? ---* a .-.p? -.... .-^ £8 pie Train Ride,' .../.../ ^ .TV;,. ,,.,.,, ,.. .89 The Universal Scales, * \0 The Thanatopsis,' ...... "'" ' .-.-,. -^ ..,.".:.,.. 91 ■The Musician, .... ;h.;V../, ' 93 The Midnight Hymn, ...... ' ',; ,- -•••••••.. 94 The Voices of the Night, " ...'■ i .V;V '"''"' ' ■•■' 95 The Drunkard's Wife, 98 The Hand wrih^tm the Wall, ,..;.*- 100 Apostrophe to the Sun, • •> . .'.v - ... . . t , 102 The Overthrow of" Babylon, .";. -" ...'.".'. 104 The Son of Abou Khan, .:•.,*?«.,>•, " t . . '.;'. 105 The Midnight Lamp, . '':"' ........ 107 'The Song at the "Red Sea, .......... .......... 108 "After the' Storm,.. „.. .... 109 The Two Sones, 110 The Trial by Jury, 112 Bunker's Hill, " ...,^.. 113 In the Alleghanies, . . 114 The Oracle,... 115 In Futuro, 117 The Whipping-Post Tree, . 118 Arnold's March to Canada, 119 The Surrender of Cornwallis, 120 Grandfather's Clock, 121 The Jew's Lament, 122 The Laud of Our Fathers, 124 ZF^ZR/T SEYElsTH. The Power of Fright, 126 The Vision of a Specter, 127 The Monster, 131 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. The Arrival, . .. 133 The Loss of Youth, .,, The Midnight Soliloquy, 135 . ... 136 137 The Tomb of Hope, 138 139 IF-A^ZR/T EIGHTH. The Silent Beggar, 140 141 ... 142 143 . ... 144 146 148 149 Moscow, ... ... .... 152 The Battle of Trafalgar, The Turk-Bell, , , .. 153 154 155 156 THE IF-A-IR/B FIKST. The Song of Waf^ fj»F War to overturn ti thousand thrones — HH War to establish Barbarism and Night — .Loud War to drown a thousaud victims' groans, Sing — fiery Muse!— and guide the strains aright ! The voice of War — to say the least — is doom ; The tread of War is ruin to the laud ; The crown of War is Death's most? horrid plume ; The rights of War are written in the sand. War roars — and horrid thunder shakes the spheres ! War sleeps — and Peace attempts to heal the wound ; War speaks — and vengeance of a thousand years Urges the fray, and scatters bale around : — Thus hath it been — shall be - since War began, Foe to the world — to Science — and to man ! (9) 10 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. Th - Foot-Prints of Time. IH&ULL many a ruined tower is rescued from beneath the M%$ sands, Wrought o'er with pictured-language by the Jong-forgotten bands ; Thus many au ancient record letps into the living light, And Day advances slowly — slowly — toward the seat of Night; And many an ancieut monarch, though his latest resting- place, No more can boast the column reared in feooor of his race, And though his jiame be blotted from the records of the Past, Still lives in his examples— lives, and lives until the last! The touch of Death is ruin to this tenement of clay ; Man dies — but his examples live until the latest day ! The touch of Death is fatal to the mortal overwrought ; Man dies — but^his examples live and mold a world of thought! A vasty wheel i8 set in motion at the early morn, Too soon the motor falls asleep, and from the scene is borne ; And yet around its axle, rolling onward in its might, The wheel with its momentum whirls — and whirls until the night! • A voice from out the ruins of the ages long ago Cries out, " The dead survive the death — the future age shall show!" The shallow-hearted geutry of the present ages, drink From many a living fount — why not?— yet never pause to think ; That where they sit in pleasure with the beings they adore, Their fathers shook the bloody lance, and braved the battle's roar! * ■'}. The pools are filled with water now that once were filled with blood ; „ ■ And ripest fruits are shaking where the ranked warriors stood ; The sword is now a plowshare, and the spear a pruning hook ; The voice of Truth around the hearth, of Love beside the , brook ; THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 11 The wells are filled with water, and the ci:y's walls are high, And e'en the voice of Death is smooth — his reign is passing by— But oh ! the voice historic speaks, and fills the world with gloom ; The Past is but an oracle to teach the coming doom ! r lhe temple-dome of Freedom, reared aloft amid the tears Of many thousand thousands, is the produce of the years; The gazing wall — the only refuge from the godless horde — Was reared aloft, one hand at work — the other on the sword ; Thus ages, till at last one land re-echoes Freedom's tread — But every pillar of the State is pillowed on the dead ! The myriad ages, rolling onward through the boundless Past, Bequeathed to one another all their burden as they passed, Uniil the mighty whirlwind, heaving onward in its course, Collided wih the present — losing nothing of its force — Then on again the Causes through the Future as the Past, Producing grand effect which lives— and lives until the last! The rise and fall of systems by the thousand come, and go, And scarce a living trace remains to scorn the overthrow ; A darkness born of Death is rolling onward from the East ; The waves of Lethe roll where Science held a royal feast! The gleam of light that still remains L pushing toward the 1 West— The star of Freedom, like the .Sun, cannot afford to rest; The war — the peace — the good — the crime — the ignorance — the wit — Raise man at times to Paradise, then diag him to the Pit; The while his great examples stand — and stand until the ; last — And present ages prosper on the ruins of the Past. 12 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. The Glance at Wai^ i. - [HE roar of guns — the clash of swords and spears Shall be my song — my Muses, blood and tears ! Vaiuly may Man expect the hills to bloom With ausht but flowers to deck his early tomb, While warriors hold their stainless names aud free; While o'er the frightened waste of land and sea The infernal War-cloud rolls in fierce disdain, Darker than Night and pillowed on the slain ! II. Ages of Peace contribute to refine Untutored Man that bends before her shrine; While Science in profusion pours the light Scorning Disaster and repelling Night — And o'er the Earth subjected to her sway Unfurls the standard and the powers of Day. 'T is now the murderer meets with justice due ; 'T is now the thief finds other work to do ; 'T is now that Perjury — covered with disgrace — Withdraws from Man and hides his witheriug face ; Adultery now must curb her far delight; Now Arson ceases to disturb the night ;- And blood stained Villainy from his ancient throne Falls in dishonor — powerless and alone — While Man in triumph all the paths may trace Of universal, undisputed Peace. III. Thus governs Peace ; but in Oblivion far Sink light and justice 'neath the power of War, That with monarchic strides upturns the ground — Throned on the flames that scatter bale around ; For Peace — though clad in more than regal state — Expires beneath the burden when the weight THE MOUNTAIN BARD 13 Of War oppresses that with hostile hand, O'erthrows proud armies and o'erwhelras the land! The warrior's trade is founded deep in strife Where Life expires and Death aspires to "life; Where'er the warrior treads the trembling sod He sends the myriads forth lo meet their God ! Enthroned on War to scourge the guilty land, With shining spears upheld in either hand, Sublime he rides o'er fields of human gore — Hears music in the infernal cannon's roar — And smiles on cities wrapped in sheets' of flame — And lisps in secret, " 7 Ids will give me fame!" The course of War is marked by ghastly Death ; Both State and Church surrender now their breath, And to the honored sepulcher of Fame Resign their vigor and pick up their name! Whiln loud and louder sound the dread alarms — A universal shout — •' To arms ! To arms !" And soon as called, ten thousand warriors move « Their skill in slaughtering human foes to prove; And years of tumult roll across the land, And hideous crimes arise and take their stand. IV. 'T is now the thief in all his fiendish power, Infests the laud — disturbs the midnight hour — And fearless, prowling where no law survives — Or, if surviving, writhing iu the gyves— ~ Lays impious hands on moneys not bis own, Removes the treasure and departs unknown ; 'T is now that Perjury stalks amid the land, And swears to fight for this or t' other band. But finds no sooner victory with his foes Than in their scale his final weight he throws ! 'T is now the murderer marks his ancient foe, And from the silent ambush " lays him low ;" Then turns a patriot, and in Stentor tones Praises the War and drowns his victim's groans — And trusting in the Code of War to save, Treads unrepentant o'er his victim's -grave! Nor stops the power of infamy with men ; The milder sex forsake their course amain ; Incest, Adultery and their kindred crimes Flock round the camp and breed their kind betimes ; 14 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. And wheu true Chastity in all her clrarms Is found in woman that disdains his arms, Some heartless villain — iised to scenes of gore - Fit school to learn crimes shuddered at before - Breeds impious rape in fiis infernal brain, Seizes — and spoils— and leaves her in disdain! V. 'T is now (he Hero waves his sword on high, And calls aloud for " those who dare to die ;" And- drives, his men o'er fields of flame and smoke W here thousands cease to breathe at every stroke ! Now flash their fiery swords aloft in air, And twice ten thousand spears reflect the glare; And countless steeds bewildered scour the plain, Bestrewed with gory fragments of the slain ! The roar of guns is echoed far .around. In torn -s at once that shake both air and ground ; The roll of drums— the clash of swords and spears — Unseat the soul and seem to shake the spheres ; While flaps his wing Destruction o'er the plain, And gluts himself insatiate on the slain ! As two fierce clouds — o'erfraught with power and rage — Throned on opposing winds, in war engage Aud rush together heedless of the cost, Till — in each other swallowed up and lost — Their bolts miscarry, while the winds wheel round Aud dash them both in torrents to the ground : So rush the warriors of the human race, With shock to jar a nation from its place! Weary at length of coping thus with Death, The fight suspends — the warrior draws his breath ; And Truce — advancing — bids the tumult cease, And countless hearts beat high in hopes of Peace; Aud many a voice is tuned of warrior stained To chant "Te Deum" for the battle gained ! But hark ! the dread commander calls his bands, And through the trump proclaims his dread commands: " Advance ye braves ! Let every freeman strike ! Advance gallants, with saber, gun and pike ! Our cause on record shows who 's in the right; A glorious victory soon shall end the fight ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 15 Behold the amazement in the opposing powers! Stand firm amid the War-cloud as it lowers ! Some o our hearts will doubtless cease to beat Ere the opposing legions call retreat ; Yet be it so! His be the noblest bed Who sinks entombed the deepest 'mid the dead ! With zeal renewed now charge the fiendish foe ; Shout ' Victory !' Now let the bugle blow ! Wave high your arms with all your valiant might ! The charge ! The charge ! Renew the dreadful fight !" Meanwhile on t'other side — with equal noise — Commanders urge the fray amid the pause ; Then all stand waiting for the dread alarms, Til', martial music sounds the shock of arms! Then loudly swells the wild, tumultuous roftr, In to*es unheard around that dell before : The seated hills are trembling with the sound ; Infernal thunders fling their bolts around ; And belching engines fill with living flame Th« glen from which the warrior plucks ? his fame ! VI. O righteous Heaven! arm — arm Thy power to save, When Man thus trembles o'er one common grave! No arm but Thine can bring the timely a-id. While lives a brave to flash the gleaming blade;, O righteous Heaven ! bid storms of turaalt cease, And plaut instead Thy sacred banner Peafce I T is Thine in war or peace- -'t 's Thine aloiid— To scorn Man's power and to assert Thine own; Then deign for once to plant Thy foot sublime On War's dread engines and erase the crime ! VII. As, when the Storm-wind bids the ocean roar, The frightened seaman — drifting toward the shore — Exerts- his utmost skill but all in vain, And sinks entombed deep in the watery main : E'en so the sons of Peace — oppressed by War — Refuse the sword and seeking climes afar, In distant lands meet tragic death alone, Or fall at home — unhonored and unknown ! Enthroned on War, where'er the legions roll, They bring both land and sea to their control ; 16 THE MOUNTAIN ^BARD. O'erthrow proud States regardless of their worth ; Drive science — morals— virtue from the earth — . And with demeanor grim — ferocious — fell — Hurl myriads tremhliug headlong dowu to' Hell I Nor is this fiendish game of modern birth j T is ancient almost as the trodden earth ! What Cain began — through zeal or malice wrought- Mankiud have followed up, and thus have brought Destruction— pillage — slaughter — tears and gore- To every age — and frightened every shore! . Aud thousands — are they' shattered by the moon? Desire no higher inscription — kinglier boon — Than warlike titles on their worthless names — The signs of pillage, slaughter, tears and flames I VIII. To War 't is given to rule both Church and State, And dub her heroes with the title " Great;" But whence their greatness eame 'twere hard to tell ; For no true greatness can in Hero dwell Who wins his way with sword and spear to fame, In hopes to shed some lust<-r on his name, Unless it were his great desire to fight — l The greatness boasted by the Prince of Night ! Yet, strange to say, since first the world began, Mankind — at constant enmiiy with Man — Have in pursuit of greatness levied wars, And plucked its honored trophies — blood and scars — *' With all the dignity to mortals known, And gloried in their hearts of hardened Uone! War is a vice that since the world began, Hath dwelt enshrined within the heart of Man In both his savage state and civilized, And as some priceless jewel hath been prized ! O, shame to men who wear the title " Great," That War hath been the plague of every State ! The Babylonian Empire rose on War ; • The Persian marched behind its flaming car ; Judea rose to power with trump and sword ! And Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome afford Examples more of what that game hath done That fixes Millions in the power of One. THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 17 *, And where are al! those ancient nations bow? When look tneir rise and fall? — and why? — and how? — Go ask of War — the arbi tress of Fate, The ancient mistress of both Church and State — 'T is there a record long and dread is found, Of ail the miseries Time has brought around : Of 'death by famine — pestilence — the spear — Fire — water — hope and sorrow — all save fear I What then is War? A curse the direst known — The game for fools — the wheel of Satan's throne! IX. And when 't is o'er, and Peace returned to life, Bids tumult cease and every form of strife, Who wears renown ? Whose name is praised in song? Who wears the crown by princes worn so long? Ask Cjesar who usurped the power in Rome, When Pompey slumbered in his narrow home ! Ask Cromwell who dethroned the Norman race, And whom he chose to fill their ancient place ! If these refuse to tell the crimes they've done, Demand of France her First Napoleon ; And if he fail the world may rise instead And answer through the millions of her dead ! H ■ ■ cease we then ; let us survey no more T.s hoary registers of War and Gore ; H e, pause we,, glancing into future time B i id the death of Misery and of Crime — T- i iil the time when War's alarms shall cease, T ail the dawning of eteraal Peace! An Oath on a Sword. J^jfOOK'at the Sword — it once was deemed a god ! fj!|| And even Peace its fabled virtues sung ; The mailed knights in ranked phalanx stood, And touched the blade, on gleaming hilt uphung, And spoke the truth — spoke in the name ©f Sword ! .Such was the god that Chivalry, adored ! 18 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. To an Old Sword. tfn|[tf HY ancient fame is overcast ; $all? And thou art falling far and fast Toward dark Oblivion of the Past, O blood j Sword ! Shame to the cause that gave thee fame — - To thee, a tyrant yet, the same As when began the tyrai t's game, O bloody Sword ! Thou wert a god in days of yore, By whom the knigbts of Chivalry swore, For whom gallants their honors bore, bloody Sword ! Yea, blazing pomp adorned thy blade ; And none could tell thou shouldst be made A scorn — o'erthrown — reviled — betrayed, . O bloody Sword ! But thou art proved to be — in sooth — A fiend that, wrapped in blood of Youth, Strives to impede the course of Truth, O bloody Sword! Down then with thee and all thy wars ! Hail to the overthrow of Mars ! Hail patriotism without thy scars,- O bloody Sword ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 19 The Glance Through Time. i, M STOOD to take one retrospective view Back through the rise and fall of mighty States A dreadful scene for Thought to wander through, Wkere Failure stands a-shrieking in the gates ; Place — Power. — and Action in one dread immense Lay chained to Ruin hideous and intense! II. There Darkness spreads her jealous wings around And shields. from day the kingdoms of Distress; There Superstition levels with the ground The spires of Lore, and boasts of her success ; And as the course of Time goes rolling by, Destruction pilfers all beneath the sky! III. The. gazing towers — the cities on the hills — And every structure built in earlier time Fall tottering d >wn ; the wail of Misery fills The freighted air and terrorizes Crime ; Al d from the seat of earnage flies amain The spirit of Liberty in proud disdain. IV. In times afar arises forth the name Of Babylon's monarch throned a king of terror ; And after him the Persian grasps at fame, And gains his victory through Belshazzar's error ; Then thundering on through ages nearer still, Comes Alexander conquering at his will ! V. Four mighty kingdoms next in order stand From Alexander's torn with sword and lance ; Four blood-stained Dynasties with crimson hand Uphold the scepter and the power of Chance ; 20 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. Then Rome from off the banks of Tiber leaps, O'erthrows and piles the Eastern World on heaps I VI. The wail of Carthage tears the ancient sky, And calls in vain to her enraged foes ; The Romans o'er their ancient boundary fly And hurl the dart 'mid War's enduring throes ; Thus rolls the War till finding foes no more, They heap with suicide their native shore! vii. Meanwhile Jerusalem — where the ancient Jew In safety dwelt and prospered age on ages — By Heathen armies compassed round and through, Presents a scene that scorns historic pages; The great theocracy of Heaven o'erthrown, Jerusalem swims in blood but can't atone! VIII. Next great Mahomet breaks the massive chain That held Arabia to her ancient shore ; The Persian, Tartar and the Turk amain Cast off their gyves so long endured before ; Four evil Spirits in these kingdoms stood, And each in turn bedrenched the earth with blood ! IX. Thesummifc gained at cost of useless pain, We now survey earth's greatest, bloodiest war ; We see heroic blood poured out as rain To hurl or check Napoleon's flaming car ; Then turn we from the vision in disgust, And hide our mouth astonished in the dust ! X. Away w th War ! Through ages gone before Naught can be found to last but War and Death ; State, Church and Dynasty amid the roar Fall tattering downward and resign their breath ; While dread Disaster wraps the world with flame, And shouts in Stentor tones the warrior's name ! THE MOUNTAIN BARB 21 XI. what a failure it would seem is Man, Whose •course we now survey from age to age I When in derision he presumed to scorn Subiiiner things to vent his eea^eless rage! His mind is flooded with Egyptian night; He wars and dies — but sees no dawn of light J XII. This I beheld when I presumed to view A glance through Time ; I then beheld the cloud Of dark Oblivion fringed with ether blue Fall o'er the scene enwrapped as with a shroud ; The loftiest towers readied forth their peering head- But round their base eternal darkness spread! XIII And as I stood and gazed. upon the scene Of earth in ruin thus outspread before, 1 seemed as standing on th^ brink between Lite, Death and Ruin ; — while amid the roar Of Elemental war the powers of Night Enclosed around reie far — a hideous sight. XIV. And as I stood and viewed the Realm "of Pain By Night and War o'erthrown and ancient Time, I wondered whether these dark powers would deign To war with me — these powers so dread sublime — A voice from out the ruined wrecks replied. " Learn icisdom now, and cast away thy pride !" 22 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. The Vision of the World, i. M STOOD to take one retrospective view Back through the mighty regions of the Past ; A dreadful scene for Thought to wander through, O'erspread with ruins and in darkness cast; Forgotten ruins of a thousand States, Whose lost career no blazing page relates ; Or how they stood beneath the blaze of Day, The foes of Truth- — the engines of Decay;, How framed the friendly leagues with neighboring States, Or proudly stood defiant in the gates : ■Or this — or that — the very ruins —decayed — Speak loudly of the warrior's fiery blade That heaped the land — the seat of wildest crime- - O'erthrown in tumult round the course of Time. II. There Desolation holds eternal sway, Throned on the ruined pillars of Decay ; There dread Disaster hovers o'er the plain, The herald of Destruction's awful reign ; And Superstition — still untaught to feel- — Borne on a thousand years of bigot zeal, Pours o'er the scene a flood of useless tears, Aud scorns the lessons of a thousand years ; While conscious Nature — shuddering — hails her doom, The death — the night — the chaos of the tomb ! III. Years roll on years, — but wot the flight of Time Can hurl Disaster from the seat ©f crime: Where'er the foot of man hath pressed the sod, There- hath the Tyrant swayed the Oppressor's rod ; There hath the blood of thousand years been spilt That. Innocence- might sacrifice to Guilt ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 23 What marvel then, if o'er this seat of crime Disaster reigns — -the avenging rod of lime? What marvel if Destruction rear aloft Her tortured visage never seen too oft — And o'er tlie scene unwonted visions cast, "The scourge of Time — the terror of the Past ? Let nations drop the Oppressor's iron rod, And sow the seed where former warriors trod ; Let Love assume the present throne of Hate — And where is proud Disaster's rising State? Till then — though Misery groans above the bier — And Pity sheds the sympathizing tear — While Memory lives each vision — like the last — Shall hail Disaster monarch of the Past ! The law of Nature — still unchanged and just — - Condemns mankind and all his works to dust, Yet leaves this consolation still behind, That ev'n fh ruins Man may solace find-— A solace known to lew, in pondering o'er The rise and fall of what appears no more. IV. Shall Man forever grope his way to find O'er ruined chaos — dark and undefined ? Shall lessons 'graved in blood upon the page Of Time, confuse mankind from age to age? Thus hath it been— shall be — since Time began— Time's greatest lessons — still unknown to Man — In dark confusion — ruin — and decay — Have sought repose while agt-s rolled away ! Not that the fall of many a tyrant State Contains no lessons for the wise and great ; The source ©f Truth — in far Oblivion cast — Still springs a foun;ain — gleaming through the Past — Yet holds itself aloof from Man, because He halts before the effect -and nut the cause. v. The records left upon the blazing page Of sad Experience, speaks from age to age- A voice almost propketic — doomed at last To reach the future ages as the past — 24 TEE MO I r N TA IN BARD, Speaks of the power of universal Cause, And bids the nations heed her changeless laws. Here then, when Man will ponder o'er the scene Of what appears as yet, and what hath been — When mortals deign one lingering iook to east Back through the mighty, regions of the Past — The Present ceases, — firmer ages ?oll Around the thinking temple ef the Soul ; What once was hidden now is doubly plain, And Cause alone asserts eternal reign I VI. Away with Chance I There never was such god, Tin ugh feared wheiever mortals press the sod ; Whatever feat is done — a martyr burned — A haughty warrior to his land returned — The Tree of Knowledge robbed of half its sway, Or mortals driven from its shades awa\ — No matter what — the burden straight is cast On this fell superstition of the Past ; Yet not the whole of Adam's race adore This senseless Chance— this superstitious lore — To some each ruin seems the avenging rod, Each traitor crime the work of Mercy's God! But who aspires to east one J^ok behind To view the produce of immortal Mind — To him no hidden hand directs the fate That ends the sway of each tyrannic State ; Before each ruin still he deigns to pause — And from the effect displayed — divines the Cause. W af v AND PEAC ||p!)EACE is a fabric built with labor great, jf|^ The true foundation of both Church and State War is a monster that with gory hands Hews down the fabric and o'erwhelms the lands. 1« THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 25 The Reign of Peace. OW Love may hold his universal reign Beside the book — the sea — and o'er the plain ; Now Sei^ue steers alok her proud caieer s And gains new victories tor each coming year; And Justice reigiis in everv terrene court, And Truth — returning — hails the blest resort ; While o'er the realm of Chaos and of Nh-ht Eternal Progress spreads her wings of light, And Order rises from the vast Sublime And stamps her impress on the sands of Time. The Song of Peace. ■(■F Peace to re-erect a thousand thrones — *HHj Peace to establish Intellectual Light — Strang Peaee to soothe a thousand victims' groans, Sing — Heavenly Muse I — and guide the strains aright! The voice of Peace— to say the least — is love; The tread of Peace is h^ althful to the laud ; The crown of Peace is mercy from above ; The rights of Peace ©n eudless ages stand. Peace smiles and nations echo to the glance; Peace sleeps — and War attempts to strike a blow ! Peace speaks — and Truth outshines the sword and lance, And threatens Ignorance with overthrow : — Thus hath it been — shall be— since Peace began, Friend to the world — to Science — and to man ! 26 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. IPJ^I^T SIEOOILTXX The Song of Oblivion, II) F dark Oblivion an<] the woes that dwell g|j In Lethe's flood — in ruin far o'ereast — Sing — horrid Muse I — and let the echoes swell In living numbers through the aged Past ! Thy voice — Oblivion I — is the voice o? Woe ! Thy empire Ruin — and thy throne the tomb! Thy woeful echoes fill the Long Ago, And pour the vengeance of eternal gloom ! Thy curtain falls- — and lo I 'tis horrid Night Where stood the blazing enginery oi Day ! The waves of Lethe breaking 'gainst the light O'erwhelm the Past in terror and decay : — Thus hath it been — shall be — from pole to pole- Oblivion reigns — the terror of the soh! ! Oblivion i. fPON a high o'erhangiug rock I stood, 'ii?§§ And cast a stone iuto the floods below me; And as it fell, remembered that the sword Of Death could in an instant overthrow me ! Ev'n as into the billows sunk the stone, So sink mankind into Oblivion! THE MOUNTAIN BARD, 27 if. I5ef'ore a wildly ^burning fire I stood, And east a k*af into the flames before mei And as it binned, remembered that, the sword Of Death could in an instant triumph o'er me! Ev'n as the leaflet scorched amid the flames, So in Oblivion perish h«raau tames! ■III. Far from the storm's revolving wheel I stood, And viewed its mad career with fear and sorrow ; And as it raved, remembered that the sword Of Death could work for me a strange to-morrow 1 Ev'n as revolves the whirlwind through the skies, So dark Oblivion lolls when Nature dies! IV. Before a furnace redly-hot I stood, And cast an ore into the flames before me ; And gazing on, remembered that the sword Of Death could gain no greater victory o'er me! Ev'n as the ore survives its fiery doom, So man survives Oblivion and the tomb! The Oblivion of Death, i. fjgff STOOD awhile to gaze upon the woe ^jg Wrought by the powers of dark Oblivion ; Straight it appeared as floods that overthrow Amid their billows the unconscious stone: Thfn I remembered the devouring sword Of Death whose victories I had long deplored. II. I gazed awhile and penned the vision down ; Straight it appeared as when the maddening flames Aspire to scorch a leaflet cast therein ; Ev'n so Oblivion swallows human names ! Again I gazed and thought upon the sword Of Death whose veogeance I could least afford. 28 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. in. This vision too I gazed and thought to pen — When ]o I Oblivion, like a cloud of woe, On whirlwinds driven athwart the ruined plain Of Memory's empire, threatening overthrow I I t»azed awhile the scene in ruins poured, <•/ And thought of Death — and trembled at his sword I IV. I saw again, but did not write in full To show to others ; — straight the cry arose, While swelled my heart in pity for such fool, — " Tis infidel ! Oblivion ne'er o'erthrows!" Meanwhile the stem Death- Angel with his sword Stood bo dly forward to confirm my word. The Oblivion of th- Past, i. j HE brightest Suns will set at last, And Night usurp the realm of Day ! Where then the memory of the Past? — In d'irk Oblivi-.u swept away. II. The myriad changes Earth hath seen Through myriad ages pass unknown ; And not a gleam of what hath been Disturbs the deep Oblivion. III. We see the effect — 'tis plain to view — But sef k in vain to find the cause ; Historic lore we ponder through In quest of Nature's hidden laws. IV. Whate'er we see — whate'er we are — Slow Process lormed from things that were ;■ But what that Process ? Near and far, We seek — obtain— believe— but err ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 29 v. Thus to our doom we stand resigned Like myriads earlier ages bore; Oblivion hovers o'er mankind, Whose memory dwells on Earth no more. VI. But when I tuned my youthful lyre To sing of ''dark Oblivion," The jarring crowds let loose their ire, And bade the echoes die unknown. vri. Vain man ! why seek to shun the doom That ev'n o'erhangs the pendent Earth ? Oblivion Time cannot illume O'erhangs all things of mortal birth. VIII. The universe with fire aflame, Still drives ahead the realm of Day ; But lo / Death and Oblivion claim Their prey — and worlds dissolve away ! IX. New worlds arise, and old ones die ; Thought — mind — and action quit their clay ; And dark Oblivion hovers nigh< Ti end the memory of their sway ! X. What then remains upon the cast When Life's eventful dream is o'er? An echo answers through the Past, "We hav^ Oblivion — but no more!" 30 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. Let Oblivion Rest, i. j^LTIR not the ashes of Oblivion ; JH Lest from her dark sepulchral caves of woe, Arise remembrances of days agone, Hateful and void. There many an ancient throe Invites redress. There Time destroys the foe, And smites the leman with his equal rod : Then let Oblivion rest beueath the sod. II. There dwell a thousand fantasies of youth O'er which repentant ^ears were poured as rain ; There gazed upon, the sad remains of Truth Gleam with a spectral light ! The ancient bane Of happiness converts all joy to pain - And dread — and torment : — how far 't were best To lei th^ ashes of Oblivion rest ! III. When anned, the ashes of Oblivion Ascend the skies, and draw the veil of Night O'er many a scene where Memory, now o'erthrown, Adds double terror to the ruined sight: — And what the effect? To cast a gleaming light On ruined bate and love ! O then be wise : Bid not the ashes of Oblivion rise. IV. Not ev'n a remnant of Oblivion But teems with something hateful to the sight Of Memory dim, when once 'tis overthrown, And re-instated. Tis the voice of Night That bids Oblivion cast a gleaming light On man's estate. Yea, Nature's rule is best — Bury the Past, and let Oblivion rest. V. The serpent's curse is to survive on dust ; Such fond for man was never wholesome yet ; THE MOUNT Alls BARD. 31 O .lien why seek to chew the hated rust 0\ old Oblivion ? When he Sun is set Of Memory why endeavor to. beget A falser light? Ne'er to disturb 'her throne, Let man recede from dark Oblivion. VI. The ebon portals of Oblivion Entomb the ruiued wrecks of centuries; Her curtains hide the seats of empires known To ancient monarchs, when the troubled skies Shook with the clash of arras: — Oan sacrifice Of toil be recompensed in the dark East, Where ma 1 contemns to let Oblivion rest ? VII. What vast resources spent on ancieut Troy, Long overthrown in dark Oblivion, \\ here Greek and Trojan can no more annov Each other and heap death on every stone, Could better be applied! Long overthrown, Her very ruins are lost: — L j t Troy attest What wisdom bids — and let Oblivion rest. var. Little we reck of Hector's matchless might, Or Helen's vanishmeut, or Troy's o'erthrow, Or Ajax or Ulysses whom to fight 1 he Trojan heroes oft. to field did go ; It rather now behooves mankind to know Of present States and kings. The present call Invites to work— and bids Oblivion fall. IX. O dread Oblivion ! rest thy mortal veil ' On whatsoe'er thou hast declared thine own ! Thine empire to thyself! Let none assail Thy ebon walls! Whatever be o'erthrown, Tis vain to seek in dark Oblivion ; — Confused sight! Oblivion in unrest! Learn wisdom then— and let Oblivion rest! 32 THE MOUNTAIN BARD, The Vision of Oblivion. M STOOD upon the rocks of Night — the rocks Which overhang the troubled sea of dark Oblivion — and the mighty deep gave shocks Against the eternal hills ; — and not an ark Broke 'gainst the breakers of that vast Sublime Whose billows roar in thunder to the skies. And overflow the records of old Time 'Graved on the eternal rocks where ruin lies! Before me rolled an ocean wild ami waste, The troubled sea of dark Oblivion, — The universal center whither haste Systems and States, confused and overthrown Id ruin ! There Disaster reigns supreme, And Darkness like a pendent cloud of woe Engenders blackest round the living stream Of far historic lore. In overthrow, Full many a tower by warrior-monarchs built To teach the future where the felon Past In battle met, and where the blood was spilt Of Innocence — in ruins overcast — Reared high above the flood, uplifted far ' Though fallen ! Within that vasty reslm of Night Stood prehistoric and historic War. Confusing records never seen aright By mortal eye. Save that a light Divine Finds secret way into the gazer's soul No light appears! The ocean hath its line, The border whence its waves no further roll Tumultuous;- — but that dark Lethean flood No border knows ! The myriad-rolling yea's Reveal 'he horrid truth, though stained with blood, That Death, with horror plumed to shake the spheres, But spreads the path for dark Obliviou With all its horrors. On the shore I stood Of that tumultuous sea, to gaze upon The ruius rising through the angry flood. And in the midst of that tumultuous flood THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 33 Isaiah, like a pyramid of flame — • Ezekiel — Daniel — Jeremiah — stood For ever set upon the rocks of Fame, And shouting Joud, a voice undimmed by year*, 'Graved on the Sacred Page. Ev'n'as the Sun His blazing throne above the Atlantic rears In central skies — his highest zenith won — And sheds his light on Europe and the shore Of Afric — evening rays, and on the coast Of proud Columbia, far beyond the roar Of raging seas and monarchs tempest-tossed — The morning rays ! so blazing back and forth, The famed prophets with their visions cast A flood of light — the light of all the earth — That fills alike the future and the Past With wonder. Years on ye«rs shall roll along, And Dynasties beneath the sword expire, And.. all things change ; — and still the sons of Song Shall shake the world as with a rod of fire/ Theirs is the perpetuity of fame Which War can never give, though often sought Upon his field. Ev'u so the prophet's name,— The name that moulds a world of living thought, Blending alike upon the Sacred Page The Future and the Past. — But now my song Has struck the rocks of Peace : — but why engage To thread it further through the mists of wrong And right and doubt, in vision from the rocks Of Night — the rocks which overhang the sea Oblivion — where the mighty deep gives shocks Against the eternal hills — eternally? M THE MOUNTAIN BARD ze»a»:r/t third. f M M E T I. (||&UROPE had begun to tremble ; JUlf Bonaparte was overthrowing Ancient customs, rights and nations. And with iron arm was strewing Far around his bloody stations Ruins of empires fierce and rudely. Ireland — long oppressed and sorely — Rose to war with her oppressors ; Raised the sword and swung it boldly That her sons might be possessors Of her castles, towers and steeples — That her flag might wave in triumph O'er her own, her ransomed people. II. Emmet — Ireland's bravest hero — Rode in triumph, clad in glory Won on many a field of slaughter Dearly bought and fiercely gory ; But his triumph soon abated, And the cause he had defended Perished ; — while his life of valor On an English gallows ended. Life he spent in bold adventures Fraught with danger and commotion ; Death he met in all his terror. Yet expressed no strange emotion ; THE MOUNTAIN BARD, 35 E'en beneath the cursed halter — Patriotism alone inclined him — Loud he spoke without a falter ■Cheering thos^ he left behind him: *' One request I leave behind me: Whf-u my country takes her station With the States of fame and glory, An emancipated nation Proud to tell her ancient story ; When the Saxon's power is smitten ; — Then my comrades — not until then — Let my epitaph be written 1" III. Closed his eyes of radiant beauty; Ceased hi-* tongue to speak for Freedom ; Bowed his soul; — as to his duty Hasted England's hangman rudely. Moments endlese in duration Passed along ; wild consternation Seized the throng; in vast commotion — Wild and dread — the storms of ocean Howled for vengeanee round the nati&n! Soon the tragic seene was ended ; Dangling 'neath the cursed gibbet, 'Twixt the Heavens and earth suspended, Died an advocate of Freedom ! Loud the shrieks of lamentation Burst from hearts that would not weary ; And the notes of condemnation Echoed through the Irish nation Joyous lately, henceforth dreary. Freedom wept with tears of sorrow ; Despotism rejoiced with smiling ; Ireland — trembling for the morrow — Gave him up. The grave had won him ! Ended were "his days of labor With the pike, the spear, the saber ; And his name forever graven On the temple-spires ef Glory Had immortalized his nation. Now be sought a silent baven In the tomb — his future station — With the silent clods upon him ! 36 THE MOUNTAIN BAED. IV. Long he's lain — and yet is lying — In his tomb, an Irish martyr ; Still his countrymen are trying Vainly to retrieve their station ; Still h is name is held unsullied By the free of every nation. Others' names may lose their luster; Others' acts as soon as ended Oase to be with glory blended ; But whenVer the patriots muster, Emmets praise shall be the anthem ; Emmet's name shall catch new praises, Crown the spires that Freedom raises; : , Thus through countless scenes and phase; Live forever — Freedom's Glory's — Blent with thousand martyr stories ! / R N O L D I. fijfOOK. on him in his fallen state, jj§| Rejected, .-corned and cast aside By those with whom he fought of late, And rode to victory side by side ! An outcast from his land ot birth ! A vagabond upon the earth ! A piteous wreck of youthful fame! , The ruins of a cherished name ! II. What made him thus? Has virtue failed To give rewards by merit earned ? Not so — at least in his sad case — For treachery thus he's scoffed ami spurned ! To this he sacrificed his name ! To this surrendered all his fame! ■ • For this received a bag of gold ! His birthright, ere 'twas gained, was sold ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD, gf Judas Maccabeus.. FOR a thousand tongues to ,sing the praise Of Maccabeus who in darker days Than mediaeval treed the Church of God From foul oppression of the Syrian rod — From small beginnings paved his way to fame — 'Mid War's alarms immortalized his name — Up reared the State and Church so long oppressed — And died with heathen lances in his brear-t ! The Fourth Antioclms o'er blown with pride — With Jupiter Olympias as his guide — O'erran Judea ; slew her sous in fight, And re-erected there the powers of Night; Ransacked the Temple — braving Power Divine— And sprinkled blocd therein and broth of swine I These crimes Jehovah from his throne surveyed And wrested victory from the Heathen blade; And Maccabeus on the change of Fate Redeemed the Church — uprcared the fallen State-— And clot ed with honor, wisdom and renown, Supreme y ruled without the royal crown. The proud successes of the rising State Stirred up the Heathen to their ancient hate, And brutal War o'erran the Glorious Lands; Proud Apollonius — Lysias — the bands Of ancient Edom — and the Arab train — And thousands others fought — but fought in vain ; A Power unseen the Hebrew conqueror led Who rode triumphant o'er the Heathen dead, Restored Jehovah's service long profaned, Aud in the midst of wild commotions reigned. Thus Maccabeus carved his honored name Triumphant on the temple-spires of Fame, Where still it shines the noblest of its kind, A monumental record undefined. Nor was his death less glorious than his life — His death that sprung from out the Heathen strife; He met the Heathen armies, gave them fight, And drove them back through slaughter to the height 38 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. Of far Azotus where as by mischance He met grim Death a-jousting with his lance ! Thus ends the most illustrious warrior's life That ever figured on the fields of strife ; That Judas fell whose proud and daring name Shines brightest on the scrolls of ancient Fame. At the Grave of Napoleon, i. |HIS is his grave — tread lightly o'er him ! Earth's mightiest scepter once he swayed, And bore a name ne'er borne before him ; But now he in the dust is laid ! II. Born in an age of revolutions, He soon became inured to war Where, marking Fortune's evolutions, He proudly placed his royal car. III. On many a field far-famed and gory Where Nations in a twinkling died, Inured to fame and wrapped in glory, He rode with Victory side by side. IV. Pride filled his heart with stern ambition That mean servility disdained And raised him to his high position Where as a warrior-prince he reigned. V. But Fate decreed that St. Helena Should be his seat in exile life ; He went ; and Death with his subpoena Called round and summoned him from strife ! VI. Proud warriors now may rush to battle And fight till blood as rivers runs ; But he no more can hear the rattle Of swords and helmets, spears and guns ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 39 Cade's Rebellion, i. REBELLION raised her Hydra head, !|§§ And through the south of England spread Her fatal bane, a flaming ire To overwhelm the ancient realm And strew the world with Wood and fire ; And many a warrior proud and brave Chose rather death then be a-slave ! II. The Rebel flag was hoisted high ; The shout for battle tore the sky ; The warrior decked his ancient plume ; — When General Cade picked up his blade Resolved to make a gory tomb His final harbor — so he spoke — Or free his comrades from the yoke. III. With ponderous arms for bloody strokes He marched his troops to Seveneaks And put to rout a Royal force ; Then raising high the battle cry Toward London bent his fatal course ! He hoped to gain ere set of sun, The Tower, the city and the throne ! IV. Undaunted marched the Rebel band With General Cade who sword in hand Lead on, and in an evil hour, With his baton smote London Stone And cried, "The city's in my power!" He fearless seemed of living might, And felt as at Ambition's he ght. V. But when the Royal Guard advanced To greet him with the sword and lance, Our hero found his' warriors fled ! 40 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. Then in disguise he shunned surprise In hopes to save his traitorous head — But all in vain ! He soon was caught, And his rebellion came to naught ! :o:- ? LtUITEAU. I. ||j| MID the peace of twenty years, ^§j| Inspired by man's eternal foe, 'Twas he who mingled blood with tea*"s, And struck the pride of nations low ; II. When lo I the myriad wires aflame To earth proclaimed the heinous crime, And graved the proud assassin's name For ever on the page of Time. III. And Safety trembled on her throro — And Valor for awhile was dead ! And Justice calling loud and long, Demanded judgment on his head. IV. Yet Time hath rarely failed to blow The trump of doom where crimes abound The eternal law works ever (-low, Yet in its turn is Justice found. ■V. And thus the stern assassin's name Shall " thundering through the a»es go ;" But who'll applaud his zealous aim When be shall try the strength of tow ? VI. For Justice hovers o'er his head, And shouts his doom, and spurns control : " Thou shalt be hanged till thou art dead ! And God have mercy on thy soul ! '.' THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 41 The Crime of Guiteau. i. j| "STALWART President!" he cried ; §|| "I '11 do it for the God !" and shot ; The while his victim laughed aside, And knew it not. II. And fifty million people mourn The loss of him they love so well ; And o'er the festal boards is heard The funeral knell. III. No war had roused men's fiery hearts ; A peace of twenty years prevailed ; — When with the fury hate imparts, The fiend assailed. IV. Now let. the stricken w®rld retire, And put her mourning garments on ; The life which ev'n his foes admire Will soon be gone ! V. Bright were his glories to the last ; He fell a martyr at his post ; His star which set into the Past Is not all lost. VI. But where's the fiend that fired the shot? Shall he, like Booth, escape? — Ah no/ Policemen seize him on the spot, And cry, " Don't go !" vii. " Be still, my friends!" the assassin cries ; "I want to go to jail !" OTime! When was such impudence combined With such a crime ? 42 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. VIII. O had they dealt Ravaillac's doom, Full half his "rime had not been known .' His blasphemy deserved no tomb Or mercy shown. IX. Was e'er such infamy outdone? The God to bear a Guiteau's crime ! So shall his declarations run To latest time. X. And shall the God endure the blame, And free the murderer from his crime? Ah no ! The felon bears the shame To latest time. XI. His inspiration fails in court ; Such barbarisms no longer awe ; For Justice cries aloud and short, "Avenge the law !" ? RAY. gLWEET GRAY! how could thy wife forbear ||§ To love thee? — At thy sacred tomb May builders of the lofty rhyme At leisure read their awful doom ? Thy verse inspired the heart of Wolfe At Quebec gazing o'er the height; Yea, world applauded Webster heard Thy strains in death and cried, " That's right!'' How then could filial love be slack To pour upon thy head its balm ? Thou sweetest bard of thousand years, Who gave o Elegy her palm ! Sweet Gray ! thy memory still is clear ; Thy strains what mortal can forget ? A w rid still And guide me in the path of ancient Truth ; Thus Love began to woo my youthful heart That yielded soon to his persuasive art. III. But oh ! what awful change with later years ! Love reigued a tyrant on the throne of Youth, And drenched his rising State with needless tears, And ushered on the doubly-dreaded Truth — For Love's proud State cannot withstand the jar That his excesses give — but falls afar. IV. And oh ! what awful state of needless woe ! Love fought the battles with unerring might, But fled his state in ruinous overthrow, When peace returned — and gave it o'er to Night! 'Mid scenes of sweetness Love still sighed for more, And fled at last — to seek a purer shore ? V. Now fades celestial music on the ear, v And Death and Danger fly to scenes afar ; And having naught to hcpe and naught to fear, Love takes his flight — ev'n like a falling star ! Or lik ? a tree when winds have ceased to blow, O'erturns itself in ruinous overthrow ! 50 THE MOUNTAIN BAUD. Jhe p ESTINY. I. Hj ARK is my life — no light — no sun— Hi My day of usefulness is done ! • 1 look upon a life misspent, And note the joys that came and went, And mourn the h-ss of Long Ago ; Alas, that love e'er made me so! II. Once I was happy in my youth, And youthful love ; — alas ! the truth — The woful truth — was simply this — I truly loved, but loved amiss ! With less of bliss I'm heir to woe ; Alas, that love e'er made rue so ! III. Could I not wean myself of love ? — As well to mount tho skies above, And fight the gods upon their seat, As fight with Cupid or retreat ; Or stand or fall, ours is the blow ; Alas, that love e'er made me so ! » IV. Our will we must resign to Fate ; For we can never — till too late — Discern the storms that wreck the skies ; Tis thus with love! The watery eyes Grow dim — then love is lost we know; Alas, that love e'er made me so! V. I cannot hate my love, though she Delights my wretchedness to see ; I know her love at first was true — 'Tis often thus when love is new — But now, 'tis lost with Long Ago ; Alas, that love e'er made me so ! - THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 51 I'd fly away and be at rest ; But something hovers in my breast — A wicked hop* 1 — 'tis weakness though, That prompts the hope J cling unto — - A hope that still forbids to go; Alas, that love e'er made mc so ! vii. Could I recall my youth again, I'd never herd with hated met), But dwell a hermit in some cave, And knowing none, no love would crave ; But youth — alas — is all aglow ; Alas, that love e'er made me so ! VIII. Ah me ! if Cupid would but deal His blow with Fortune's, human weal Would create envy in the gods! Alas! by more than mortal odds, Mine is the deepest love below ; Alas, that love e'er made me so ! :o:- To Jea LOUSY. j|gETIRE! thou most infernal thought, !|!§ With Satan's mischief doubly fraught ! $o longer dare surround me ; Let all thy Hellish powers depart! Thy poisoa take from out my heart, So love can shine around me: — Without thee Earth were Heaven indeed ; Then take thy flight with quickest speed ! My Love ! forgive this fiery mood, And help to quench this fiend of good ; Don't let it tear nay heart from thee, And plant a Hell where Heaven should be ! 5*2 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. To Victoria. Y home — which gloweth with solitude; 9 My life — which knoweth no quietude ; My tongue — which soon shall cease to move! My heart — the fallen throne of Love; My mind — where joys were wont to roll, And fill with rapture all my soul — All — all as well might cease to be, Since driven in despair from thee, 1 fled I O wild despair! All hope is dead, And waves of tumult roll instead ! My home had always solace given, Wbeu by Despair my heart was riven ; So homeward all my thoughts inclined, As oft as trouble crossed my mind. And when the only heart I loved Revealed its will, its coldness proved, For solace quickly home I flew ; — Alas! — mistaken — all untrue! To live was death ! but oh, to die ! Dark, horrid clouds — I knew not why — O'erspread throughout my moral sky ! Till then my life no trouble knew, And had not still — hadst thou been true ; O cursed spot ! How dread the place Where Trouble first unveiled his face, And from his horrid visage blew The word that rived ray heart in two: — O deadly word ! Soon as 'twas spoke, Despair my aspirations broke And life and joy with crushing stroke ' My heart, o'erfull with love, was thine, And hoped that thine were truly mine ; But now it is asunder riven ! Hope and Despair have ceaseless striven To gain therein the topmost seat ; But oh ! love's trampled 'ueath thy feet! Desp ir shall be my winding sheet! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. VS My mind was full of visions bright That at thy bidding took their flight; — But now farewell. Thy game is o'er Forever and foreverrnore ! Restlessness, t. jlijNE month ? No, hardly three weeks yet, f^fl But seems an age twice told and more Since last I left her father's door And on my journey set! To me the same — when dark, when light — While I'm so restless day and night! II. A school- -if school it might be called — At Sinking-Ground I teach by day ; At night I take my lonely stray To\rotible deep in thralled ; Sometimes for miles I take my flight Because I'm restless day and night I III. And oh ! what book or poem now Can soothe my mind or give it ease While strolling lone 'mid rocks and trees, I pais time — who knows how ? — For nothing now can please my sight, I've got so restless day and night ! IV. I might enlarge but deem it not Of interest to the world or me ; Suffice to say I hope to be One day upon the spot Where stands my love with look so bri gbt, And then be restless day nor night ! 54 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. On New Year's Day. ||LL hail, New year! Farewell, thou Old! p| To me the same both Old aud New I Your joys — your woes — are manifold ; Your joys are only known to few. II. And Time, with broad and darkening wing. Has ushered in another year ; And Death, with cold and mortal sting, Prepares t he Old one for the bier. III. Another year its doom has met; O'erthrown, it yields to Time at last; The Sun that lit the year is set Beyond the mountains of the Past. IV. And when upon the scene I gaze, The ruins wrought throughout the year, And think upon my earlier days,- I tremble — yet I scorn the tear. v. For why should my once throbbiug heart That laughed to scorn the tall of Youth, Be broken by Disaster's dart, Or melted at the sight of Truth? VI. Oft have I felt the tyrant stroke Of Fate, and deeply mourned the blow ; But never yet my spirit, broke, Or failed to bear its load of woe. VII. \ had 1 gazed on what I saw, Nor thought to make it all my own, 1 might have fancied bliss or awe, But both had still remained unknown. THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 55 VIII. To gaze had uever broke the spell That haugs o'er Love's eternal throne ; — But why forbear the truth to tell? I touehed — the rapture all was gone ! IX. Since that all-uameless hour of Fate, I live nay natal day to curse ; And though Disaster rears his State, It cannot make ray torture worse ! x. Aud yet some solace still I find In pondering past and present woe; For every sting that haunts the mind Portrays its power to stand the blow ! XI. Then be eaeh season like the last ; Though shorn ot every other light, Still let me gaze upon the Past, And learn to read the book of Night. XII. And now, while falls the dying Year Beneath the scythe of ancient Time, I mourn — bui scorn the useless tear* — For all it brought — its good, its crime. XIII. Thus year by year the hopes of Youth Still perish with their year of birth ; The rising year shall bear the truth To many a scene bereft of worth. XIV. Then bail, New Year! Farewell, thou Old J To me the same both Old and New ! Your woes are truly manifold ; Your joys are only known to few ! .56 THE MOUNTAIN BARB. At the Close of Day. i. "m T twilight wheD the dusk of eve gH Ccmes stealing slow but sure around, I pause to think — who would believe? — And fail to note above the ground A single blessing not effaced ; A single action not misplaced ; One pure word either thought or spoken ; And then my heart is almost broken ! II. Then comes a dim remembrance felt So ott when on the patient's bed I lay almost unconscious and My friends gave o'er and thought me dead ; A feeling close akin to pain ; A feeing fraught with stern disdain ; While treacherous Memory only briugs A mass confused of broken things! III. Whate'er I see around me seems — Not quite, but nearly so — the same As something else that in my dreams Of long ago both went and came ; Or something nearly like what I Have seen before ; — around me lie The broken fragments — torn amain — Of Love and Hate, and Joy and Pain! IV. Joy ! thou art a word misplaced ; O Pain ! in thee my soul survives ; , O Hate ! with horrors thou art graced ; O Love ! with thee my spirit strives ! Without thy rays of genial light Earth's brightest days were deepest nigh ; Unless thy sovereigu power control, Woe to the most aspiring soul ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 57 v. He that hath never felt thy power, At best is but a sluggish beast ; Let no such man e'en for an hour Be trusted — no, not in the least ! His heart is cold as Polar ice ; His keenest virtue is a vice ; His soul broods in Plutonian night And shudders at the thoughts of light ! VI. But oh ' dread Memory breaks the chain Of Love, aud bids my spirit soar Back to the timeL most fraught with pain Aud paints them brighter than before; limes long ago with sorrow fraught, By treacherous Memory now are brought In borrowed colors to portray The distance I have fallen to-day ! T IMBERLEE, I. jjtND Timberlee has got a wile, |H Ihe present joy of future life! Successful in his wooings past He brings her to his home at last ; And Love is all the law they have, And each is still the other's slave! O Timberlee ! O Timberlee ! If I were you how glad I'd be ! II. A year has passed : — their joys are dead ! Their hours of pleasure all have fled ! They gaze each other's face the while — Yea gaze — and gaze — but cannot smile ! For Love has fled his pearly throne, And weeping now can>ot atone! O Timberlee ! O Timberlee ! If I were you how sad I'd be ! 58 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. To a Sweet Singef^ i. i||*V'N as the voice of Nature's Sire jlgl That hushed the waves of Galilee, Bo sounds upon the heart's deep lyre, The music of thy voice to me. II. So sweet the melody serene Floats o'er the spirit's vision wide, I seem as borne afar, between An angel's voice on either side. III. And when thou singst of Beulah Land, And setst tby flaming eyes on me, Save that I may not touch thy hand, Love's Paradise were full in thee ! IV. But oh ! the tear instinctive falls When Memory strikes her woful strain, And Duty's well-known voice replies — " Depart — and ne'er return again !" V. Thus in the midst of music's charms, O'erruling Fate my doom decrees, And bars me from thy loving arms — Where thou wouldst have me bask at ease ! VI. And must I heed the stern decree, And fly like zenith's falling star? " Farewell to Beulah Land and thee !" In notes of love resounds afar. THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 59 .] Ne 5 ee\_ Shall Smile Again.' i. ^HE moon was shining silver-bright J Around the calm lagoon ; The oars were flashing in the light Like Zenith seen at neon : — A youth advanced with careless step Ado,wn the open glen, Sighing anon with baled breath — " I ne'er shall smile again !" II. The noise of laughter on the lake Is fraught with radiant joy; The faces of the youths partake A kind of sweet annoy : — But oh ! the lad with folded arms Still pushes through the glen, Sighing anon with heavy heart — " I ne'er shall smile again !" III. The voice of plighted love is heard Upon the lakelet's breast ; And lovers tremble at the word That fills them with unrest: — The while that melancholy youth Still wanders o'er the glen, Sighing anon the fatal truth — "I ne'er shall smile again !" IV. The voice of love upon the lake Is fraught with deep unrest; The trembling lass begins to quake When first her lips are pressed ! The while that boy with bated breath, Cursed with the eternal bane, Still sighs amid his living death — " I ne'er shall smile again !" 60 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. v. The moon is siuking slow to rest Beyond tl-ie still lagoon ; Aod lovers folded heart to breast Account their sorrows done : — But oh ! what throbbiugs heave the breast Of him who sighs in vain, And murmurs still as scorning rest — "I ne'er shall smile again /" The Lover's Farewell. i. ||IS o'er; — I leave the realm of Bliss! Adieu ! ye joys too quickly flown ; Adieu ! sweet rest forever gone ; Adieu to Love's enamored kiss ! I now must fly — to lands unknown ; Must dwell amid the throng — alone; Must dwell with those who know not bliss ; Must fall asleep — without thy kiss ! II. I flee ; but wheresoe'er I go, With treacherous Memory still I'll strive Aud in my visions keep alive The fond embrace you now bestow ! For thee my love shall ever burn ; For thee my heart shall beat return ; With thee in love perpetual dwell ; From thy advises ne'er rebel ! III. And now farewell ! I will not choke The sigh that rises to assure Thy trembling heart that love is pure ; Love trembles 'neath the parting stroke ! E'en in the tear survives relief ; The artless tear insures belief; Wilt kiss? — thy lips were ne'er more sweet ! Adieu ! sweet kisses — till we meet ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. (31 To My Betrothed. i. ',OST lovely fori® of womankiud- liM> Most Heavenly maid of Earth' ♦Still let me in thy bosom find Love, happiuess and worth ; U. Let still thy love around me shine My weary soul to guide; Permit me still to call thee mine — My loved — my future bride! III. Though foes may still my soul distress And strive my love to shake, Yet if they hope to have success They labor through mistake. IV. If still thy love around me shines To calm Life's troubled roar, Give quick auew thy tokening signs. And up my soul shall soar! v. But sliould thy love grow false to me My heart — no more my own — In dark despair and gloom shall be Forevermore alone! VI. II Love with rays of power divinn Hath warmed thy tender heart, Hath blent thy heart and soul with mine And bid all else depart — VII. Doubt not that I sincere will prove ; For all the world can see That all my happiuess and love Are jointly shared with thee! 62 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. VIII. Tis love for thee that shields my soul From trouble's chilling Wight; And when I else would feel alone Thy love sets all aright. IX. And many other works of Love I might present to view, But for the present I defer, Since what I've said will do ! -:o: The Curs .2 of Fate. . i. (1 SAW thee once, and thou didst steal g> My heart- — at least you thought 'twas mine- Sweet rogue ! my soul shall ever feel Its deepest raptures at thy shrine : I love thee ? Yea, 'twere hard to tell How long I've loved thee and how well — But Fate allured to distant land, And bade me never touch thy hand ! II. O mystery of remorseless Fate ! Must I for ever mourn my lot ? Or shall I in some future state Find my forbidden love forgot? Thou hast my heart — but what's it worth ? My hand was barred from thee at birth ; The curse of Fate is ours for ever, And I shall see thy face — ah — never ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 63 The Autogi\aph. i. \Y life a raystie river is j Whose course not ev'n its wavelets know ; All scenes of happiness and bliss To me are ever haunts of woe. II, And now, though dazzling Beauty smiles, And Love, from his eternal throne, Beckons to me through radiant eyes, Still must my heart beat still alone. III. For I can ne'er thy charms survey, Unawed by Youth's mistakes and Time's; And yet the truth will shine one day, And thou wilt slander me with crimes ! IV. But why should I thus burden Youth With inward sorrows fit for Age? Or write through mysteries a truth To whelm thy softer heart with rage? v. Yet peace to thee ! The vanished Past To dark Oblivion's pit consign : The seal is set — the die is cast — I know my* fate — thou know'st not thine. VI. And I must fly to lands afar, Where Duty's voice calls loud to me ; The gate is standing now ajar, But I must not approach to thee! 64 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. The Declaration. jfjflj* HOUGH love-waves o'er my nature roll l^Mk And fill with rapture all my soul, It ne'er hath been my lot to see Her more devoutly loved by me Thau thou hast be^n and still shalt be I Therefore my humble heart shall be An ottering of Love to thee I Our long acquaintance speaketh well Of friendsh p that caused some to tell That I with thee iu love had fell; But still when speaking to thy face, My pulse would run perpetual race — Despair would veil my timid face — My heart would tremble in its place — My tongue -it too would cease to move Whene'er I tried to speak of love I "I'll talk of other things to-day, And on to-morrow I will say The words I've tried so much !" My resolution many a time ; It seems to tell it is a '•rime ! Away— away with such ! I'd talk our whele acquaintance o'er, And try to speak of Love once more, To say a word it 'twere but one ; But silly tongue — it wouldn't run ! But now I've thrown my fears away ! Yet how I cannot tell ; Enabled now am I to say : "My Dear ! I !ove thee well ; I love thee dearly, aud to-night My love is pure as snow is white !" THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 6q T O AN pARLY -TRIEND ^WEET girl ! Though I may never see jjp The face that smiled so oft on me, When in the happy days of youth, We loved — but dared not own the truth — Still shall my heart, at thought of thee, Beat high — and struggle to be free ! II. Through many a land 'tis mine to stray, And curse my lot from day to day, And seek for happiness in vain, Since youth cannot return agar 1 ; — Yet when I think of love and thee, My heart still struggles to be free ! III. But when thou hear'st that I have failed To stem the tempests that assailed, Let not those eyes be dimmed with tears That sparkled so in earlier years ; Su^h tears — when shed by love and thee — Would break my heart or make it free ■! IV. Is this our doom ? — and yet I would Not on thy tender heart intrude ; And uow farewell ' !No earthly joy Hath yet been found without alloy; My heart— once beating loud for thee- Must beat in vain — no longer free ! m THE MOUNTAIN BARD. The Powei^ of Love. MASKED a sage with whom I met, '•Your views of Love?" His answer clings to memory yet : II. " A greater boon hath ne'er been given To man than Love, By Him who sits enthroned in Heaven. III. " When Sorrow's darts fly thickest round, The shield of Love ' A sure defense is always found. IV. "No burden e'er too heavy seems When rays of Love From Love's own dazzling temple gleam. v. " The light and power and guide of Life Are found in Leve The conqueror of every strife. VI. " Omnia vincit amor ! All Succumb t® Love The conqueror of both great and small. VII. "Were I condemned to live on Earth Untaught by Love I could but curse my hopeless birth." VIII. I turnerl ard said : " My friend, 'tis true ; T <• power of Love I've felt i id deep as you." THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 67 Jo J IME. I. %L LAS is man ! why dost thou overthrow |H Our happiness ere we begin to know Its worth and how to thwart thy mortal blow ? O tyrant lime ! II. Some happiuess for all is yet in store ; And yet 'tis useless — thou art at the door lo wield thy rod as in the days of yore, O tyrant Time! III. 'Tis thus that thou hast broken my poor heart 80 joyous once ! And canst thou not impart Some blessing save thy all-devouring dart? O tyrant Time ! IV. Our sweete.t happiness is love of Truth And sweetest Purity ; — that thou in sooth Dost sc^rn to leave at overthrow of Youth, O tyrant Time ! v. And oh ! 'tis mine to weep in sorrow sore That thou hast robbed me thus, and to deplore Thy needless tyranny forever more, O tyrant Time ! Jo JA IRIAM. HEN other cares my mind employ And strive my thoughts from thee to wrest, M; heart within shall leap for joy At thought of her who loves me best ; And feel full blest in being owned By Love within thy breast enthroned ! 68 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. y OVE. I. MN every ruan by Nature bred Exist the principles of love ; And yet how oft 'tis falsely said That Love is flown to realms above ! II. Love has not fled the earth as yet, Though hard beset by sweating Lust ; Tis vain to think the sun is set Because a chmd obscures nis trust. III. Fur round sweet Beauty's dazzling throne Of purest chastity and truth. Love holds his revels all alone, And wallows in the lap of Youth. IV. Twere better far to love in vain, Than let the spark of love expire ! Once dead, it ne'er revives again, But smothered most doth most aspire. V. The love of music and the love Of woman be my spirit's food, Or moonlight stealing through the grove, Bv wicked woodsman unsubdued. VI. But let his soul be racked with pun Who strives the source of love to move, Or cries unto his fellow man, " Scorn to the offices of Love!" THE MOUNTAIN BARD. (39 The Loyer's Retuf^n. i. jj SWEETEST joys to mortals known ! §•§; To meet with whom we love and not To find one par ling vision gone, The trembling, farewell look forgot! Days into seconds crowd, and all The visions of pure youth recall ; And Memory — traitorous still forsooth — Hides faults, e'en at the expense of truth! II. Swejt Love ! 'tis well for thee I live ; I could not live untaught by thee! Here all I am and have I give, An humble offering still for me ! With thee my heart shall ever beat ; From thee my spirit ne'er retreat ; To thee my soul for aye be given ; From thee my service ne'er be driven ! To My Abssnt Dove, i. |HE last three months appear to me As but one summer day ; A day's an hour when I'm with thee — A month when I'm away ! II. When thou receivest this to-morrow Peruse— -reflect— aud love; Remember one whose only sorrow Is for his absent Dove! 70 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. Absence. [IS sweet on Memory's page to read Of times that had no sweetness when They flitted by with unknown speed And joined the Fathomless again ; When at the study table met By Love's own dazzling form I sat, But felt unconscious of the light That banished all the powers of Night! II. 'Twas meet that I thus read the words On record left by those who trod The Earth in earlier ages and Returned to life beneath the sod ; I learned thereby the powers of mind, The strongest of the strongest kind ; I learned thereby the dreadful truth, That Joy no partner is of Youth ! III. But now far in the distance flung I seek in vain life from the dead ; — The harp beside me lies unstrung ; The book beside me lies unread ; Where'er the wanderer's path I roam, Loom up remembrances of home, And absence pours Plutonian night Around the stream and source of light! THE M UN TA IN BARD. 7 1 On the Cliff. 1. ||HE kiss of love — the love sick soul's delight — J§Hj? Who would exchange it for the wealth of gold? Who so degenerate as to barter love For royalty — as in the days of old? II. Blind ignoramus 3 What else shall I say? Devil! — I'll say it though I fall thereby! Fettered with night so near the source of day — What villain doubts that he deserves to die? III. And yet the woes of lovers are Unknown, Save to the few experience calls by name — Or what eternal horrors seize upon The heart that loves ere it attains its aim. IV. All have I felt; — and in its turn have felt What 'tis to love where fortune never shone ! And therefore am I weary now and sad — For love is lost — and I am left alone! v. O days of youth ! I little understood The weal ye offered when upon the shore Of Time's dread ocean I undaunted stood, And gazed — and pondered — shall I ponder more ? VI. What I would recollect is soon forgot ; What I would fain forget survives o'erthrow ; What most I dreaded is befallen my lot — And all my happiness is drowned in woe ! VII. With less of youth I gained a woman's smile ; With loss of peace I stand the crags above ! In face of Death I stand to gaze awhile The universal loss- of life and love ! 72 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. VIII. And ye who in the rugged vale below — A thousand feet below — my bones shall find, Curse not the suicide until ye know The horrid flame that, bade him shun mankind ! IX. Is love a crime ? — 'tis all the crime I've done : — But death hath terrors worse 'ban lover.*' shocks! Farewell ye sons of men ! — and I have gone To be a brother to the insensible rocks ! Lines to Miriam. ON PRESENTING HER THE PICTURE OP A CROSS WITH A RIN« FASTENED THEREON. .OU see the cross? How firm it is ! How sure the ring around it clings ! 'Twill there remain when both are old — Through damp and dry, through heat and cold — For't can't be loosed (as I am told ;) So is my love to thee ! My love encircles round thee still, Encircles now and always will ! G then why not love me? When hands of thine are placed in mine, Thy face like sun beams oVr me shines ; Thy countenance glad tidings brings. My troubles all are changed to bliss, When — sweetest ' f all — thy face I kiss ! THE MO TINT A IN BA RD. 73 The Farewell. ftjS WHAT a world of paiu and woe, fUg Whose fatal poison none can tell, Swells on the aching heart below And centers in the word " Farewell !" II. Joy hath no strain that sounds complete, Such sorrows round its closing dwell ; The joy of friends who gladly meet Dims at the hated word " Farewell!" III. Full many a scene we wholly hate Grows sweet at last and all is well ; And then we mourn the blasts of Fate And sigh to speak the word " Farewell !" IV. But why this heavy heart should mourn For aught on earth 'twere hard to tell; And yet I would not thus be borne From scenes that ask a long " Farewell !" v. Oft have I beard the voice of Truth, And felt my soul with rapture swell ; But now to scenes like those of youth Must bid a longing last " Farewell !'' VI. O world of pain ! O world of woe ! How deep thy poison none can tell ; The startling woes of Long Ago All "enter in the word " Farewell !" 74 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. The Epitaph, jjl[IS Yonth did fail amid its prime |§| When stern Unrest upreared his throne ; And raving on the tyrant Time, He took his leave for parts unknown. II. Through this dark gate he coolly passed Unto a far and trackless realm, Still gazing fondly on the Past While Death sat sternly at the helm. III. Without consent born to the earth, He took his leave e'en as he came ; Small profit gained he by his birth ; Twas but a parent's gift — a name * THE MO UNTAIN BARD. 75 ZF-A.IR/T FIFTH. The A THEIST. I. tlEN o'er the Earth the tempest rolls And fills with horror stoutest souls ; When from the Heavens the bolts descend That jar the Earth from end to end ; — What man that walks the Terrene sod Shall murmur forth, " There is no God!" ' II. When on the Earth in calmer days The Sun pours forth his genial rays ; When nightly o'er the calm lagoon Majestic floats the silent moon ; — What worm in shape of mortal clod Shall dare to 6ay, " There is no God !'" III. When trembling at Jehovah's ire, The Earth shall wrap herself in flre ; When through the vast expanse of Time The Archangel's trump shall sound sublime ;- What awful doom for hicn that trod The Earth and cried, "There is no God!" 76 THE MOUNTAIN BAUD. THE ffEREAFTEE\. I. HfelPE is an isle betwixt the seas f*!| Of two unknown Eternities — An isle where hangs the sword of Death Upon the workings of a breath ! II. 'Tie o'er ; and Love now tears the bier ! And Pity sheds the burning tear ! And human (railty cries aloud Till echoed wails surround the shroud ! III. Philosophy may vainly try To soothe the grief for those who die ;. The passage still demands a tear For all who press the silent bier ! IV. Life rises high to loar and burst, And turn to what it was at first ! But who shall pierce the mystic pall To read the future doom of all ? v. And yet we know the final doom Is far bey nd the boasting tomb ; There all shall fall, and all shall own The presence of the "great Unknown !" VI. So live that when thy days are o'er, And thou must glow with life no more, A pangless conscience may illume The dark recesses of the tomb ! VII. For time is rolling on — and on — And longest lives will soon be gone! And little reck the present strife Whom bright Hereafter calls to life ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. T HE T HREATENERS. I. jHE proudest knigiit |j|*f£ In armor bright That ever met his foes in fight, Could not withstand The ghastly band That threatens this illustrious land. With outstretched hands On holiest lands Proud Atheism the tyrant stands; And like a swell x rOC66QS to t£ 1 1 His creed i " No God ! No Heaven ! No Hell !" in. Pale Skepticism, Dire Romanism, The infidel " Freethinkeeism," And myriads more Stand at the door Our foes as iu the days of yore. IV. These we must meet Or call retreat Thereby insuring foul defeat ; For in the blaze Of modern days The astonished world the struggle weighs. v. Then Christians, rise ! Wait no surprise, For valor unexerted dies ; Meet arms in hand The ghastly band That threatens this illustrious land ! 78 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. The Impious Farmers. i. §1[N April when the showers of Spring jjg Were frequent, boisterous and chill, The neighboring farmers thought to bring Contempt upon the Almighty's will ; And argued long — but argued vain — For more of sun and less of rain ! II. Then ceased the rains, and for awhile All were delighted. Herb and tree Shook in the Sun's all-cheering smile; The earth was verdure ; all was glee ! And neighbors when they met would say — " Has any seen a prettier day ?" III. In June some wished a thunder-shower ; Others desired a silent rain ; While all put forth their utmost power To dress their fields — but all in vain ! The parched air was so deadly-het The earth was like a seething pot! IV. The drought in July still prevailed ; Not e'en a cloud adorned the sky ! Some prayed, some cursed, and some bewailed Their situation ; " We shall die Of famine, pestilence and thirst !" Cried thousands in that land accursed. V. In August blazed the parching Sun ; The solid earth to ashes turned ; The race of life seemed well-nigh run 1 The fires prevailed ; the fields were burned ; And in despair men rashly cried, And thus the living God defied : THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 79 VI. *' Send down the rain ! No righteous God Could punish suffering mortals thus! Twere better far beneath the sod, Than to endure this hateful curse! There is no God or he would deign To send his suffering creatures rain /" vir. And when the equinoctial winds Athwart the parched horizon blew, Cloud after cloud piled high in air ; The soaring bird toward Heaven upflew ; And burst the tempest in its might, And plunged the land ill deepest Night' VIII. Tumultuous were the clouds around; Tempestuous were the winds above ; Harsh thunders shook the surging ground, And lightnings with each other strove ; And earth it seemed had gone to wrack, Or rolled from off her ancient track ! IX. A river swelled from every rill And heaved the crested waves in air; Revolved the sterm ! from every hill A torrent burst; al! was despair; And men with shattering voices cried, ** Save, Lord, from tempest, thunders, tide !" X. Then fled the clouds on winds reversed ; The thunders ceased ; the brightening Sun Relit the day and quenched his thirst From useless floods whose charge was done '. From this let hasty grumblers learn To take the weather in its turn. 80 THE MOUNTAIN BARD, The Papal Intef^dict. iREMBLE ye monarchs of a stricken world O'er whose doraain the interdict is hurled I Fling back the royalties of days agone ; Fall in the dust and curse tho fatal throne ; For Papal vengeance wraps the world with fire, And 'mid the wreck of nations heaves the pyre I No more the farmer drives his teams afield ; The farms no naore their fruitful harvest yield ; No more the housewife plies her evening care ; And friends no more their mutual love declare ; All Nature holds a universal gloom While from the Eternal City rolls her doom : " Ye proud opposers of the Church's power, Ye who have ushered in this direful hour, Howl y^ and mourn ! Repent ye of your crimes! Attempt no more to change the laws and times ; Prostrate yourselves with faces toward the ground, And beg for mercy while it may be found ! And ye on whom sedition hath no power, Bring down the bell from the cathedral's tower; In shallow ditches bury all your dead ! The open heath declare your favorite bed ; In church-yards celebrate the nuptial ties ; Lay bare your heads beneath the cloudless skies ; In mournful cadence weep the direful gloom ; And ponder deep the horrors of the tomb, Where, should ye fall beneath the Church's ire, No hope remains but groans and penal fire!" The Scp^ptuf^es. fflOW strikingly Thy word portrays §§| The present state, the final doom Of all, when far in future days Beyond the tomb ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. fcj The Ship of Youth. [OVV let the youths of every land, Who on the rocks of Danger stand, Attend and listen to my song, And learn to shuu the giant Wrong Which spreads around so many a lure To make his t.wn successes sure, And hurries to a nameless grave The sous or freedom and the slave. And yet 'tis vain to sing the song Of danger to the gaily throng Who lift aloft the spark ing bowl And drink this riot of the soul! Who trust in Virtue's power to save, And scorn the drunkard's early grave, Yet like the progress of the Sun, Whose course is slowly — surely — run, Still pitch on each successive night Their tent, and rear the beacon-light A whole day's journey, nearer Doom, Nor once perceive the darkening gloom ! Yet will I sing the song of Life That sailed so proud the seas of strife, Till lured from off the charted line And run to death by love of Wine! And if the youth who hopes to be A sailor on that living sea, Will scorn this warning of the Past And meet his folly's doom at last — O let him with his parting breath Tell whose the crime that brought him death ! And this — his doom — shall aid my sHY ten) file is the eDdless space \ Where burning suns attend the chase; And in this temple of the skies What clouds of holy incense rise ! II. Around Th«e all the skies are furled In peerless grandeur o'er the world ; And rolling stars aspire to own The wheels of Thy eternal throne. III. Far in the long forgotten Past Thy Spirit rode throughout the vast, And bade the wilds of chaos own The star wheel of the Eternal's throne ! IV. And life and order sprung sublime To note the glorious birth of Time ; And dark ess fled the realm of Night At Thy command, " Let there be light !'' V. How vain the petty works of man Compared to Thy eternal plan ! To Thee all Nature's works belong That hymn Thy name in choral song. VI. From everlasting Thou art grand ! To everlasting Thou shalt stand ! And all who live and all who die Shall hail Thee monarch of the sky ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 95 The Voices of the Night. 1. ^ptffELL might the swart Chaldean raise jS/lskb Aloft his wondering eyes — Ev'n in those dark barbaric days — To gaze upon the skies. Why ni t? — for Art had never spread Her glories o'er the waiting earth ; Where'er the gazer turned to tread Strong Nature stood, the source of worth ; But most by night her glories shine, And nearer bring the border-line To mortal view, where intertwine The living glories here below With living glories far above, And all with light and life aglow, And ali the charms and powers of love. II. Hark to the voice of Night — It falls upon the ear In melodies so clear ' And he who lists may hear The tolling knell of Time's Disasters, woes aud crimes. The temple of the sky Stands forth, a vasty dome Upreared and curfaiued high, And calls me forth to roam ; And every star its place hath found, From whence to scatter light around ; Hark to the happy, happy sound, As Nature's train goes by — The voices of the sky! III. So sweet the enchanting melody — What voice could imitate? So perfect is the harmouy — When known to mortal state? 96 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. The bloody lessous of the Past In one dark reservoir we cast, Whene'er we hear aright, In universal harmony, The voices of the Night. IV. Light cries aloud, " At work am I f" For proot the myriad stars rush by : There Darkness cries, " No foe am I ! v For proof he seems to kiss the sky : There Order cries, "To duty I/" For proof behold the harmony : There Love still whispers, "Sick am I !" Whose heart can not thus testify ? V. Down with the fcveilasting jar Of mortals rushing on to war ! Down with the powers of hated Hate ! Down with the tyrant, small or great ! Down with the gyves — though silver-brigbt- That shackle the approach of Light ! Let man, as in the days of yore, Seek hidden light beneath the stars, Until his heart's most inmost core . Attests the magic spell, And cries aloud, " How well !" VI. Long had I sought to know the truth ; I found it where I least had thought ; The woe that gilds the fall of Youth Contains the oracle I sought : So at the overthrow of Day, A thousana lights adorn the skies, And pour their light on mortal eyes, And banish gloomy thoughts away, Which else had held supreme control, Ahd terrorized the human soul. VII. That which is done is done through time ; Not gods the law could change ! The good is good — the crime is crime — Whoever think it strange ; THE MOUNTAIN BA&D. 97 The voice of Love, when heard aright, Re echoes sweetly through the nighty While o'er the vision far, The starry worlds above Forget chaotic war And only think of love ! Thus by the first of Nature's laws — The law of stern effect and cause — Where Love once sets his seal He stamps eternal doom Of misery or weal Through all the time to come. What marvel then if man Adore the wondrous Plan That never shows aright Except at deepest night? VIII. For fallen love there is a ba^ ; Behold it in the skies ! The tempest fades into a calm, — The world, to paradise ! Hail then the voices of the sky, That speak to man such living truth ! Though Love may tall, and Hope may die, And all the energies of Youth, Still in the skies the sign is spread Of order, truth a *d love, The flaming sign of happiness Far in the worlds above. IX. Hail to the voice of Love at night ! All hail to Order's voice at Night ! All hail to Light's faint voice at night! Hail to the voice of Night at night! The world is beautiful around ; The skies are beautiful above ; A thousand voices strike the sound, And evory voice is filled with love ! X. Well might the swart Chaldean raise Aloft his wondering eyes — £8 THE MOUNTAIN BALD. Ev'n in those dark barbaric days — To gaze upon the skies. Why not?- -for Art had never spread Her glories o'er the waiting earth ; Where'er the gazer turned to tivad Strong Nature stood, the source of worth ; But most by night her glories shine, And nearer bring the border line To mortal view, where intertwine The living glories here below With living glories far above ; And all with light and life aglow, And all the charms and powers of love. -:o: The Drunkard's Wife. T. jHE night was gloomy — dark — and cold, And from the eastern sky no light; Each maddening blast new horrors told Attendant on the gusty night. II. The fire was dead, and o'er its tomb Of ashes, wrapped in sorrow sore, A worse than widowed mother whom The pitchy night no salace bore. III. She will not yet, embrace Despair — She still has hoping of relief; She will not tear her lovely hair, Nor wholly give away to grief. IV. She mourns — her husband's loss of pride ; She feels — yet almost doubts the truth ; Tis done ; — she can no more confide In him who loved her so in youth ' THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 99 v. The drunkard still remains away ; The babe and mother colder grow ; The iufant sleeps; — a glimmering ray Of light unclouds her glimmering brow — VI. She hears him coming? O what joy ! 'Tis past! — 'twas but the rustling leaves— And she alone! dark Nights annoy, A troubled web of sorrow weaves. VII. The infant sleeps — the sleep of death ! The mother lies upon the floor, And sighs in vain with every breath For whom she did at first adore ! VIII. No more she rates him " drunken brute" — Love will a thousand faults forget — She now recalls her dreamy youth When Love's eternal beauty set! IX. Still howl the winds around the door ; Time ushers on the dead of night ; "The youthful mother sorrows sore, And waits impatient for the light — X. The drunkard came at last, and called ; No voice replied ; he burst the door To find the hand of Death had wrought Sad havoc on his cabin floor ! 100 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. The Handwriting on the Wall. jiiELSHAZZAR reigned in Babylon, and his throne 5§§i Was paramount in all the nations known ; And dwelling in his royal palace halls, Begirt with Babylon's broad and massy walls, He felt secure from danger and alarms, Feared no assaulting shock of men-at-arms. His predecessors on the Imperial throne Had made Chaldea's iron scepter known , III many a distant land and region old From whence his tribute flowed of slaves and gold. And now Belshazzar proclamation made That all his nobles, sumptuously arrayed, Should with himself, his wives and concubines Unite and feast upon his choicest wines. Both courtiers gay and satraps heard the call And straight repaired to King Belshazzar's hall : The king was present in his robe of State ; The banquet hall was thronged from throne to gate; And many a brilliant lamp of ancient mould Shone from its chandelier of burnished gold ; And many a noble of that doomed land Was drinking riot at the king's command ; When lo ! a hand of wildering aspect "bright, Appeared, and on the wall began to write! Few were the words those angel fingers wrote, But each sang audibly a funeral note ; Few were the letters by those fingers traced, But each appeared with tenfold horror graced ; And now his charge performed — the warning gives — The amjel reaseended into Heaven ; Yet still those words of unknown meaning shone From off thn palace wall beside the throne ! As, when of old, their sires attempted vain To build a tower to Heaven from Shinar's plain, Jehovah fr>m above descending down To view the tower, the builders and the town, Confused tluir language to so dread extent That each knew naught of what another's meant — THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 101 With one accord they left the tower alone, Awed by the preseuce oi the great Unknown : So from Belshazzar's feast the frightened guests No longer mindful of their king's behests, Each as his fancy led — both great and small — Turned in contempt, or left the haunted hall. Belshazzar gave command : " (Jhaldea's seers, Rise and expound what in these words appears Mysterious!" Advancing at his call, They view the dread handwriting on the wall : " These words by us were never seen before !" Thus virtually — " We see but know no more!" And when these masters of Chaldean lore Had viewed the wondrous letters o'er and o'er, And failed to note e'en one expressive word, The mild assurance of the queen was heard : " Let Daniel come, the Captive ; he ean best Expound these words that mar our royal rest, For in him dwell the spirits of the God!" To whom the king replied, " Perhaps he can !" Then turning to the guards — " Bring forth the man !" Then all were silent save those words unknown That shone fruin off the wall beside the throne. When Daniel entered that illumined hall, He gazed the dread handwriting on the wall, And theu to King Belshazzar : " Though thy sire, Nebuchadnezzar, felt Jehovah's ire, For proud persistence in his wicked ways, When with the cattle he was glad to graze ; And though thou knew'st the story of his fate — ■ Thou, the inheritor of his throne and State, Hast followed in his footsteps till the hand Of great Jehovah, armed against thy land, Hath broke the Babylonian's power in twain, As tempests dash rude vessels on the main !" Then turning to the letters on the wall: '• Mene, mene, tekel upharsin! All Related curses for thyself and throne : Belshazzar s grave is made ; his kingdom gone ; Tlie Mede and Persian occupy his throne J" That night the king was slain ; and on the mom, With joyous shout and peal of trumpet-horn, Darius entered through the Royal Gate, And took possession of the throne of State. 102 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. ^POSTROPHE TO THE Sun. [IjfeENTER of life and light ! though art the source <•§?§ Of boundless power. Thou art a sovereign throned Of all the land, all the boundless sea, Whose title none dispute. In earlier times, Ere man's aspiring mi no attained to thoughts Of nobler Essence, ere the Eternal Woid That framed thy mighty bulk and fired it up, Had deigned to guide his mind, immortal man, In adoration viewed thy flaming face And called it God ! and e'en till now, O Sun Thou'rt held in awe and reckoned 'naong the gods In various lands ! But we who sing thy praise This evening, hold thee not among the gods, But as the mightiest bulk of workmanship Which God in wisdom nlaced in viVw of Earth To teach his power. With inspiration full Thou art and power to soothe ; and shalt remain Through ceaseless time. Thou rollest fiercely on Forever, 'thwart the broad cerulean dome, Yet changest not nor tirest. Each fleetiug day, Thou clirabst the sky, and viewest this nether world, And shootst abroad thy rays of seven-fold light Down through the trackless void, and fallst toward Earth, And sinkst beneath the horizon's circling girt, And hidest from view ; and while for us 'tis night, Thou wheelst thy fiery car and rollest back — By us unseen — and reappearest at morn. O inexhaustible store of wealth and lite ! O priceless Jewell in our firmament set By wise Omnipotence! From forth thy face, In emanations swift through Heaven's expanse, Tby light and heat advance. Thou risest high, And briugst the Summer forth, and givest the Earth Her flowery robe, and causest fruit to grow And every herb, and wakest the lightnings up, That rend the furious clouds aloft in air Throned on the rolling winds. Thou rollest back: — THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 103 Dread Winter takes his stand ; the hills are bare ; The thunders cease to fling their fiery bolts ; And but for thy return, all Earth were void And life would cease. Sublime and dreadful sphere! Thou rolling ball, thou world of moving fire I Whence all thy power so like Omnipotence? Who taught thee how to drive thy furious car O'er Heaven's cerulean dome? Who lit the flames That wrap thy face with fire and shoot their beams Of living heat throughout thy vast domain ? Who strewed the worlds aiound thy burning throne, And gave thee power to hurl them round thyself Till worlds shall end? Who gave thee power to rule The surging tides of Ocean's boundless depths? What Power prevents thy ceaseless burning mass From falling into naught, by flames devoured? Who cleareth from out thy way the Heavenly orbs That thou full scope might have to rush thy car Still headlong on with flames and smoke inwrapped? " God ! God 1" shine forth the hills that rear their heads To catch thy dawning smile, thy parting glimpse; *'God !" shout the clouds that ceaseless ride the air In furious storms; the winds shriek loudly, "God!" The lightnings rush from out their secret hide, A*-d loudly burst the echoing thunder tones That shake both Earth and Heaven and cry out, " God !" And now thou shootst thy beams amid the storm, And sets in every cloud thy radiant bow That strides the air and whispers softly, " God/" And far beyond the Equatorial girt Where lies the Earth with ice and snow enrobed, Both land and Ocean ceaseless utter " God !" And e'en the Earth, the stars, the Heavens themselves, Still onward fly and catch the echo, " God!" Whilst thou, O Sun! who hast thy dazzling throne Both night and day — with thee there is no night — High up in Heaven among thy kindred spheres, Still rollest on — both round thy flaming self And round the central Universal Throne — Aud loi.kst abroad throughout thy bright domain Lit by the flaming rays received from God, And cryest aloud aud ceaseless, " God is Power!" 104 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. The Overthrow of Babylon. i. fl^ELSHAZZAR sat upon his throne, fJHf A sovereign proud in Babylon ; Before him sat at festal boards A thousand lords. II. The king commanded every knee To bow in deap humility, To gods of wood, and brass, and stone ; The feat was done ! III. His guests arose : upon the wall A hand appeared ; and over all A terror spread as if to note The words it wrote ' IV. The graven letters stood unknown Upon the wall beside the throne Till Daniel came— the captive Jew- Aud ran them through. V. He tead : " Belshazzar's grave is made, His kingdom gone ! His power is weighed ! His throne the Persian and the Mede Usurp with sp^ed !" VI. That night the king was slain ; and when The morning woke to life again, Darius climbed the throne of State And sealed its fate. THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 105 The Son of Abou Khan. i. INHERE lived a kuight of Hindoostan, ^fej? A worthy son of Abou Khan, Who bred and born to Buddhist views Still held a preference for the Jews. He read of Shadrach's fiery bed, And how the angel sentries stood, Of Daniel in the lion's den, And how he stood there unsubdued ; Elijah and Elisha too Before him passed in strict review— And David with his slinging-stone To fight Goliath all alone — These stories in his youth he heard, Believing firmly every word! So when he paused upon the brink Of sterner manhood, there to think Awhile up»n the various roads By greater and by lesser Gods Chalked out on earth for human life, This worthy son of Abou Khan, A valiant knight of Hindoostan, Renounced at once his father's creed, Became a Jew in word and deed, And cried t<. all who round him trod — " Jehovah is the only God !" II. And time rolled on — and on — yet still He worshipped toward Moria's hill ! He was a Jew in deed and word, Beiievf-d their Scriptures every word, Yet living in a land unknown To Jewish or to Western throne ! Ev u Alexander failed to pass The streamlet where his cottage stood ! Around him dwelt in solid mass The Buddhist votaries unsubdued ; 106 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. Aud wheu their laws were pointed forth He shouted to the sous of earth — " I'll worship as my heart inspires, Though doomed thereby to peual fires!" And thus he held his creed— his name — As if his country held the same ; Unmindful of the savage thirst Of church fanatics, far the worst That ever entered court to swear Against the doomed to despair ! ill. A year rolled on ; — and Abou Khan, A shining light of Hindoostan, Was childless 'cause his son had trod The footsteps of a foreign God ! Religion ! in thy godly name What godless crimes do men commit! Crimes that would bring the Devil to shame Cast on the gods of holiest Writ ! Let others serve the God they choose, The Islam's —Buddhist's — or the Jew's ; For me, I'll take the dangeious plan, Like this lone star of Hindoostan, And worship as my heart inspires, Though doomed thereby to penal fires ! For since the light began to glow, And man began the truth to know, No greater crime hath marked the world, Or o'er the human race been hurled, Than his who with his neighbor strives To fasten Conscience in the gyves ! For Conscience still will break, and soar, Believing all it did before, Though monarchs frown and tyrants rave And turn the garden to a grave ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 107 The Midnight Lamp, i. IWAS not the workman's tool alone That gave the earth her living stamp ; "Ivvas aided by the '* great Unknown," And by the blazing Midnight lamp. / II. The voice of Nature sounds serene Where Midnight sets her sacred stamp ; The throne of Worth is ever seen Where burns the blazing Midnight lamp. III. The blazing of the Midday Sun Sufficeth for the woodman's tramp; But Wisdom hovers round her throne Where burns the blazing Midnight lamp. IV. What is the genius of our age? What gave us our progressive stamp? What brightens our historic page? — The energetic Midnight lamp. V. Tiie voice ot Nature cries aloud Where Midnight sets her sacred stamp ; Yea, speaks as though a fiery cloud That hovers round the Midnight lamp. 108 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. The jSong at th£ Red Sea. fjjEHOVAH is a man of war! Jehovah let us sing ! 'lkJ > Jehovah is the God of peace — the universal King! The chariot and the charioteer to Him as naught appear; He breathes upon the mailed ranks — and thousands disap- pear ! The horses and the riders lie beneath the angry flood, The battle-flag forever furled, and hushed the cry of blood! The servitude of Israel in a foreign land is o'er! The Slave is now emancipate and on a distant shore J The lofty pyramids beside the lordly Nile may stand, To teach the future ages where the Pharaohs held command, Yet still the name of Egypt fails through all the time to come ; Such is Jehovah's living curse — and such is Egypt's doom ' The Egyptian monarchies a proud and triple pillar stood, Though oft assailed by Time and War, as often unsubdued, Until their kings perfected all the heinous arts of Crime, Then (ell in horrid overthrow — the laughing-stock of Time! Yet not alone is Pharaoh's haughty State the seat of crimes, The blazing sentinels of Ruin to the future times ; The voice of Love is silent through the wild and broad ex- panse — Why sejk for love where man adores the hated sword and lance? And Science, yet unborn, hears wild and undisturbed rage, And leaps in vain to catch the light — each hour a sunless a S e— Till through the boundless Orient a living voice is heard, And new-born Science springs to life, and speaks the magic word That disenthroues a thousand gods, and pours the living light Of Truth around the boasted throne of old and boastful Night! , Then let the voice of Hope abound along the rugged shore, ' Till mountain-crag to mountain-crag repeat our triumphs o'er! And cry, "Jehovah's warrior might — Jehovah's praise we sing ! The everlasting God of peace — the universal King !" THE MOUSTAIS BARD. IQ9 Aftee^ the Stcr M §0\V brilliant 'twixt tlie rit ted clouds appears The orient Sun, a? o'er the mountain's crest He rears his huad to bid the tempest rest! All night the winds around the fixed spheres Howled in terrific fury, giving Night A double terror ; while the heart of man In deep emotion tried in vain to scan The depth of Nature iu her far delight. Hail then the dawning of another Day That o'er the realm of Tempest and of Night Re rears the standard and the power of Light, And scatters brilliance through the rising spray! Hail radiant Suu ! Thy kind return inspires The weary heart that had despaired of life, To pluck fresh courage for each coming strife. E'eu as the earth beueath thy kindling fires Puts on her verdurous robe of Nature's green And blooms and shakes and o'er the tomb of Death Spreads shrouds of living green, fanned by the breath Of spicy gales that o'er the freshening scene Serenely float and charm the p;:sser by : Ev'n so when o'er the ruined wrecks of Fame The suu of Hope arises to reclaim Our primal state of life and purity ! Such is the awful mystery of life! When dread Disaster with monarchic stride O'trturns our confidence and scorns our pride, Life plucks fresh vigor from the rolling strife, And springs erelong from out the wrecks of Time More vivid than before and more sublime! 110 THE MOUNTAIN BARD, F-A.ZR/T SIXTH. The Two Songs, i. [OW let the freemen sing the song Of Right throughout the lands of Wrong ! And every mountain wake to hear The anthem martyrs held so dear ! And every breeze forget to blow ; And every brook forget to flow ; And every soul prolong the strain That swells from mountain-top to main, Preserving in its verse sublime The grandest memories of Time And giving many an honored name To future ages and to Faroe ! Yea, strike the song from shore to shor« Till tyrants' thrones shall be no more ! And every martyr's tears be dried Through lauds of freedom far and wide! Till all shall join — a happy train — To sing in many an ancient strain Reflected from an age of night, The song of Wrong in lands of Right! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. IL The freemen heard those words of fire; Then struck the loud resounding lvre! They chanted loud — the} 7 chanted long — Throughout the dismal lands of Wrong! They sung by night — they sung by day-- They sung by land — they sung hy sea — They sung where monarchs held their sway- They sung where every glen is free — They sung till traitors fled the sight, The mighty song of mighty Right! Ill, Still let the joyous strains prolong; Let pealing organs peal the song] Till every mountain wakes to hear The anthem martyrs held so dear! And every breeze forgets to blow ; And every brook forgets to flow ; And every soul prolongs the strain That swells from mountain-top to main., And tells of freedom's battles won Through all the cireuit of the sunl For every liberty we own Was wrested from a tyraut's throne; And every flower that scents the morn Was gathered from a spiry thorn ! IV. But tyrants' thrones are now no more On eastern or on western shore ; And all shall join — a happy train — To sing in many an ancient strain The praise of those who sung in vain And cried from mountain-top to main, In spite of scorn, in spite of pain, Their present loss — but future gain- Yea all shall sing with wild delight At home — abroad — by day — by night— The song of Wrong in lands of Right! 112 THE MO UNTA IN BA h D. The Trial by Jury, i. fjlf)F all the great bulwarks set up for th" free £§*§; By the blood of the martyrs — the wisdom of sages- The trial by Jury — who would not agree? — Stands forth as the brightest bequest of the ages. II.. The trial by Jury I where first it appeared. We know not nor care ; — but we hail it with song As the grandest tribunal that ever was reared To establish the right and prohibit the wrong — III. The pillar of Freedom — the engine of Truth — The rock of Defense — the great structure of a^es: — It grappled with Tyranny even in youth — And came off a victor applauded by sages. IV. And even the tyrant of Normandy's shore Who thrived on the ruins of England — ev'n he, Though he trod Saxon liberties down by the scored Fouud the Jury a bulwark reserved to the free. . V. And the warrior with thousands of men at his heels And millions of money — which Freedom so loathes — Is put to the rout when the. country once feels The power of twelve honest men armed with their oaths ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 113 Bunker's fiiLL.< r. |l RISE, imperial Bunker' shake §sH Thy firmest set foundation stone! Bid anarchs, kings and tyrants quake, . And bury in Oblivion The memory of Oppression's throne ! II. Thy hill so calm to present gaze Was once the seat of roaring War ; Thy sheeted crest with fire ablaze Shot deadly missiles near and far Revolving like a falling star ! III. Here fell the patriots' blood as rain, Spilt in defense of Freedom's cause ; Here bristling steel and leaden hail Strove 'gainst each other scorning pause, Those for, these 'gainst King George's laws. IV. Immortal Warren ! o'er thy bones Let Freedom weep a double tear — Half in defiance of the thrones, And half lamenting that the bier Should be employed so proudly here ! v. And yet methinks on Bunker's Hill Were grandest tomb to mortals known ; Yea kings their glory to fulfill Would quit the terror-haunted throne To sleep on Bunkner's crest alone ! VI. Freedom ! immortal Bunker's name Be guarded by thy holiest ties ! Let the eternal trump of Fame 114 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. Re echo through the Western skies, Till Bunker's proudest memories rise! VI. Spirit of Bunker! deign to fill The sons of sires who won renown Upon thy world-applauded hill — And oh ! forbid the tempting crown To tear thy ancient gloiies down/ -:o:- Tn THE ^LLEGHANIES. [O tyrant here can wield the cursed rod Where all breathe free the atmosphere of God ! This goodly laud by Nature's stern decree Was pre-ordained a land of liberty. Witness ye momtains whose eternal crests O'ergaze the landscape where the brooklet rests ; Witness ye crystal brooks that flow serene The roujrh and jagged mountain ribs between ; Or witness all ye hardy sons of men Who rule as monarchs of the peaceful glen, Where every breeze that passes softly by Kisses the trees and whispers, ''Liberty!" O earth! where such another land as this? Where such a dearth of woe? such stores of bliss ? Pure crystal brooklets flow the hills between ; High monarch mountains clothe the verdurous scene; While vasty torrents rushing heedless by O'er precipices joining earth and sky, Co rival in their fierce and far delight Yosemite's or steep Niagara's might! THE MOUNTAIN BAUD. H5 T he Oracle. i. |3^EARS on years — and age on ages — F^l R°" along the fields of Glory, Filling all historic pages With the cry of prisoned debtors And the clang of Whig and Tory ; — But the sons of toil and labor Reap no harvest from the saber; And the endless jar and jargon Hide the causes of the story. II. What is Greece? A servile nation, Racked and torn by local fetters — Tomb of far historic Ages — Temple of the gods and sages — In the midst of hostile nations, All surrounded : — once her station Ranked the first, the grandest nation Known to mortals! In her Athens, Socrates aspired to' glory — Gave his creed to waiting natious — Died, — and ended up the story ; Pericles — and Alexander — Stern Derao-thenes— ah, Glory! Vainly do we read thy story, Graveu on historic pages — Greece is gone, and half forgotten By the wise — the modern sages! Glory is a torch that flickers O'er the outer sea of darkness, Flickers now, and brighter blazes- - Lures the wisest through its mazes — Dies, — and leaves us to its phases ! ill. What has France to claisii the vision ? On we hie to lauds Elysian ! To the laud of warlike Saxons — 116 THE MO UNTAIN BALD. Boasted land of boasted Freedom, Both a farce ! The love of glory — Still the burden of their story — Glory through succeeding ages — Glory in the pangs of Freedom 'Graven on historic pages ! Witness Europe ! witness Asia ! Africa and proud Columbia ! Last and greatest, witness Ireland ! Land of debtors ! — laud of labor ! — Tyrants' home! — and grave of Freedom! Land where he who lifts the saber Dies the death ! The immortal story, Writ in blood but not in glory, One eternal beacon 'blazes- Meets the eye where'er it gazes — Calls for man's enduring praises. IV. Seven hundred years of labor — Foreign lords have held the harvest ! Often rising with the saber — Still her faith remains unshaken ; — Jews and Greeks have fought for ages, Fought and bled in quest of Freedom — But the Irish faith surpasses Aught upon historic pages ; Irishmen have wept for ages — Fought for freedom through all stages — Fought tor all, but got no wages — Wept and died in foreign cages — Plied the storm where'er it rages — Gave the English tongue her sages — Eat the bread of toil in sorrow — Still have hoping for the morrow ! Still have hope to see the Saxon Banished from this isle of sorrow ! Still have hope of Ireland's banners Waving o'er her ancient people ! Still have hope to hear the shouts of Freedom from each tower and steeple ! Still have hope — their foes all smitten — Hope to see the hope of ages — Emmet's epitaph be written ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD, 117 jr.f UTURO. L II SPIRIT hovers o'er the East §||y The future seat of roaring war, Where flapping vultures soon shall feast On armies hailing from afar. II. Woe to the empiie of the Turk, That soon shall pass to bloodier hands! 'Tis Time's decree; but bloody work Must first o'erthrow those classic lands ! ill. Ah ! wrapped with firns of future wars, Full many a Seio 'gins to blaze ; And groaning 'neath the lash of Mars, From shore to shore the nations gaze. IV. From Ethiope to the Azof Sea The fires extend ; while sounds the shock Of tyrants warring with the free From Gauges to Gibraltar's rock. V. Wildly the tide ©f blood and tears Pours o'er the century-trodden East; And louder than for thousand years, Death grins in mockery at the feast. VI. But lo! the Turk for Tartar plains Departs to take his ancient stand I No longer stern Mahomet reigns ! But other tyrants spoil the land ! 118 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. The Whipping Post Tp^ee. i. 'HE walnut of Fishkill still stands as a mark Of the barbarous practice upheld by our sires ; But Nature has wrapped in her mantle of bark The eugiue the tyrant so greatly admires ! ir. • Here stood the scared Tory fast chained to the tree ; By his side the deserter from Amric's wars! And the merciless cowhide — that scourge of the free — Was brought forth — a disgrace to the calling of Mars! HI. And this was for freedom? — aye, freedom indeed! Such freedom as Jefferson Dever defended ! Ah no! 'twas camp-followers did the foul deed. Whose names should no longer with freedom's be blended ! IV. And now what remains for the poet to sing? Th" fame-of the scoundrel is blent with the sage's! And the cause of the hero who hated his king Is disgraced by the barbarous practice of ages! v. And shall I then sins of the conquests sublime Of the cause of the free — gaining strength with each age — Unawed by the villainies grafted on crime 'JS"eath the banner of freedom — the cause of the sage? • vr. Shall I sing of the glories of Washington's zeal — Of Jefferson's fire — and of Hamilton's skill — Of Adams — and Henry — and yet never feel The blushing ©f shame for the tree of Fishkill ? VII. The blushing of shame on a sea of wild pride Pours a gloom o'er the Present, a cloud o'er the Past ; But it works for the Future what years have denied — A freedom unbounded — a boon which shall last! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. \\% VIII. Then let the lou 1 clarion sound through the land Till the fame of our freedom fills valley and hill ; Aud the chivalrous deeds ot our sages shall brand With darkest Oblivion t^e tree of Fishkilll Af-jsiodd's March to Canada, t. ^jlEHOLD from out the Wilderness gUff This gallant band emerging forth, JSworn to avenge th^ir late distress And carry war into the North! How valiant beats each manly heart! How glows the cheek at sight of art! For art of man by them unseen Throughout the dreary march hath been! II. They marshal round their standard, and - A formidable front present To all the dread monarchic bands Of widespread Canada's extent; Unfurled their standards flaunt the sky Aud urge to deeds of victory ; The future Traitor sounds the alarms Aud all his warriors stand in arms ! III. O that the soul of him that leads This valiant band of warriors forth Had firmness to resist the greed That lures the wisest sons of Earth ! But this is not; nor can we tell What, cause iaspires the brave to sell ; But this we see from times afar — The greatest criminal is War! 120 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. The Surrender of Cornwallis. i. [IS done ; — the martial drum no more Shall rouse Columbia's sods to arms; The cloud of war is gone ; the roar Reechoes not in wild alarms ; Eternal Freedom ceaseless be adored — Cornwallis tenders now his hostile sword I II. Heroic hearts that dared to brave War's thunders rolling fierce and high, That scorned the terror of the wave — Resolved with liberty to die Or live with Victory — War's destruction poured In furious streams that gained Cornwallis' sword ! III. Brave hearts that wept when from the North War's thundering echoes first were heard, Heroic souls that marshalled forth To bloodiest war without a word, Rejoice! for Victory leaves the English Lord! Cornwallis now presents his hostile sword ! IV. Throughout the States let music roll ; Let joy resume her ancient stand ; Let liberty assume control, A sovereign of this glorious laud ; Peace! stand in triumph where the War has roared ! For now Cornwallis tenders George his sword ! V. Time! hast thou seen a worthier sight? Freedom ! thy reign is now secure ! Earth ! hail the breaking up of Night ! Columbia! hold thy victory sure ! An d every freeman praise the living Lord ! For now Cornwallis yields his hostile sword ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 121 Grandfather's Clock, i. jll'NTHRONED upon thy ancieut mantel-tree ||g§ O king of clocks! thou 'rt ever dear to me, As with a tireless stroke thnt scorns at rest. Thy ticks and tocks — O king of clocks ! — Cry out aloud to all, "To work is best!" II. Thou first of clocks that ever told the time In grand old Logan ! o'er thy thione sublime Have more than fifty arm^d winters rolled And yet thy tocks — O king of clocks ! — Are clear and sweet as in the days of old. III. Immortal fam^ to Terry and his son, Thy valor uives, as standing on tf.y throne Thou raak'st thy impress on the sands of Time ; Thy ticks and tocks — O king cf clocks ! — Preserve their names and make thy throne sublime. IV. Let others share thy master's hidden gold When he shall sleep in Death's eternal fold. If I survive I'll only ask for thee! Thy ticks and tocks — O king of clocks ! — Were legacy and wealth enough for me ! V. Since first thy race began, one race of men Has lived — and died— and turned to dust again ; And yet thou seem'st in vigor's prime of youth ! Thy ticks and tocks — O king of clocks ! — Are like the workings of eternal Truth. 122 THE MOUNTAIN BAKD. VI. Grim War hath swept around thy peaceful throne, And hurled into the land of the unknown Some of thy household resting now afar ; And yet thy tocks — O king of clocks ! — Did never halt to curse the murderous War. VII. ' And now of late thou art again bereft, Another faithful friend ! yea, thou art left To unskilled hands that on thy wants attend ; And yet thy tocks — O king of clocks! — - Gave but a single day to mourn her end ! viri. Thou first and last of clocks! when thou art done Thy mortal race, and standest on thy throne A lifeless thing, my tears thy. fall shall weep; For with thy tocks — O king of clocks !- - So often hast thou rocked my youth to sleep ! The J ews Lament. I. lOREVER must I vainly weep f| O'er Salem's fall and I-rael's loss? Salem ! arise from out thy sleep — Refine thy gold and bum thy dross. II. The voice of music once did float In sweetness o'er thy hills serene; But now how different sounds the note That rolls thy ruined walls between ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 123 in. The wisest king of ancient days In thee upreared his throne of State ; Now from thy hills the unlettered gaze Of slaves — such is the tyranny of Fate ! IV. Yea! in thy ancient Temple deigned Jehovah to descend in light! But stranger gods have long profaned Thy hills through many an age of night. v. And twice a thousand circling years Have failed to cure thy cureless woe, And scorned the sacrifice of teais Shed o'er thy ruinous overthrow. VI. In thee no more loud shouts are heard, As erst in days more truly blest, At promulgation of the Word Revealed on Sinai's thundering crest ; VII. For lo ! a Mosque upreared on high ! What profanation of the Truth ! And yet 'tis vain to heave the sigh, j Or mourn the overthrow of Youth. VIII. Why slumbers thus the sword of Death ? Deserves no other State the stroke ? Shall Israel dwell upon the heath Forever 'neath the tyrant's yoke ? IX. And will Jehovah never smile On lands where once Shechinah dwelt? Shall Israel mourn while foes the while Boast o'er the ruin they have dealt ? x. And must I weep forever more O'er Salem's fall and Israel's loss? Rise, Salem / to the race once more ! Refine thy gold and burn thy dross ! 124 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. The Land of our^ Fathers, t. ,'HE lann of our fathers is holiest ground ; > There their blood in defense of our freedom they spilt ; And curst be the tyrant who lingers around To destroy the pr f, ud temple our forefathers built! - II. The voice of a century cries to the world In behalf of our freedom so hallowed in song ; And we march lo the conquest with banners unfurled, Singing songs of the Right in the lands of the Wrong. | HI. And history now opes a new page of her book — A page to record the successes of Peace ! And the poet now sings without fear of rebuke The shame of the warrior — whose glories now cease ! IV. Strike a blow at our freedom? — the world is undone! We are here from the uttermost parts of the earth ! For the pilgrims from Zembla to lands of the Sun Struck tent when they heard of our Union's proud birth! V. The Irishman's lnve-of his country prevails When the heat of debate stirs the depths o the soul ; And the might, of the Saxon is seen when the gales Threaten wreck to our vessels in search of the Pole! VI. The German is here in his love for the vine; The Frank in his freedom untrammeled by creed ; The Switzer may here find a lovelier Rhine, And a new race of Tells to adorn— not to bleed ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 125 VII. O land of thf* stranger ! O home of the free ! May thy glories increase on the pages of Time! And thy freedom a marvel, a watchword shall be To the warriors of Iruth in each country of Crime! vnr. And the voice of the ages shall shout to the world The worth of our freedom so hallowed in song; While we march to the conquest wiih banners unfurled, Singing songs of the Right in the lands of the Wrong! 126 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. ZF^IR/T .SZE^TIEIIsrTIEt:. The Powef^ of Fright, i. || TRAVELER met at Cairo's gate fpf A monster clad in regal state ; The Eastern Plague, who sword in hand Has devastated many a land And strewed his path with ghastly death ! II. ' " How numerous are your destined prey Adjudged to death beneath your sway?" The traveler said. The Plague's reply, "Three thousand citizens shall die!" Sauk to his heart a poisoned dart. III. In time the travelers met again. " You threatened three and murdered ten !" Declared the man. The Plague replied : " I killed but three ; the rest that died If known aright, were killed by fright." THE MOUNTAIN BARD, 127 j HE y isioN of a Specter i. MFELL into a languid swoon And slumbered 'at the height of noon;, And in my slumber plainly heard A voice with half prophetic' word, As if proceeding from my side, Shriek loudly, " Rise and view thy bride !" II. Half startled at the hideous sound, I woke, arose and gazed around ; But wheu I saw no visible face Of either living form or dead, Thought I, " Tis but a lingering trace Of some faint vision, of the head !" With this I reassumed my place Of rest upon the matted bed, And pondering the vision deep, Precipitately tell asleep ; And ere the echoes hardly died, It shrieked again, " Behold thy bride! iir. Weary at length — who would deny? — Of this monotonous, hideous cry, I sternly said ere half awake — Ye half inspire me with delight! As far as gleams the visual ray Fresh Nature blooms and shakes in light The crystal brook flows on serene The verdurous, rounded hills between ; The songsters of the air resound The beauties of the scene around. II. Yet I am sad ! And what the cause ? A love for times I can't forget ; I mourn — 'tis one of Nature's laws — The sun of Youth forever set ! 'Tis vain to retrospect through time To prove that sorrow springs from crime ; I mourn — dispute the fact who can ?— That I've at last become a man ! 7 HE MOUNTAIN BARD. 137 The Midnight Soliloquy. i. |t LONE I sit! 'Twas midnight long ago ; j||§? And all but me ere now have gone to rest: — The babe lies sleeping on its mother's breast, The happiest thing on this Terrene below ; II. The school-boy laid his books and papers by Three hours ago, and closed his eyes for sleep ; All mourners now but me have ceased to weep, And wipe the tear-drop from the watery eye ; III. • Both great and poor— besides myself — it seems Have dropped their cares to spend in rest the night ; But I am doomed to sit (O, horrid sight!) To sit alone debarred of rest and dreams! IV. And what the cause? A restless state of mind : A doubtful fear of — who can tell me what? A thirst for that which is and yet is not; A dread of what o'erhangs all human kind ! V. A love for what I ne'er expect to see ; A doubt of what were else my blessings here ; A sorrow that survives in many a tear ; A hope — alas! what hope remains for me! VI. Still here I sit! Before me Darkness reigns; Behind me naught but weakness can be found;' A forlorn, wretched cumberer of the ground! My life a glimpse — then who knows what remains? VII. "^is thus when man his course of life reviews : What else were his, of slight account he deems And spurns aside ; and lives inwrapped in dreams Of future hopes and fears, a vain recluse. 138 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. VIII. Could childhood wrap my feeble senses in, Nor let them stray their lonely circuit round, No bliss like mine could anywhere be found; — Alas for those who know the paths of sin ! IX. Still here I sit — unknown to sleep and rest — Desiring all and yet receiving none ! Thus many a night till rises forth the Suu And shoots his sparkling beams throughout the West, x. And what reward awaits me when I'm done? Alas! who knows the state beneath the sod Where man returns in silence to his God, A withered worm whose earthly race is run I xr. Alas ! we can but knew his Earthly store r Desire and hope and dread and want aad fear, His constant goods ; and when his hopes are clear, Out goes his light — and he is known no more t -:o:- A Fra GMENT. ; 'HEN on Mount Libanus of ancient fame jg|§ The old man of the Mountain marshalled forth His gloomy devotees for deeds of shame And sent them roving up and down the Earth Bent on their prey like Satan when he came 'Gainst honest Job, no potentate of Earth Could for a moment deem himself secure, So daring were the fiends and so impure. THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 139 The Tomb of Mope, l 'HE voice of the Past As it rides on the blast Is a dirge to the Soul with woes overcast; And for the Hope he reveres As the staff of his years But a dark-gleaming tomb stone is all that appears! II. When the sunshine of Youth And the pure love of Truth Could wrest the live honey from Care's poison tooth — Full little he then Knew the tortures of men When the dark tomb of Hope casts its shade on the glen ! ill. But he still ushered on, And on and still on, Till the season of Youth and its 'pleasures were gone ; And he now stands before The dark tomb and reads o'er The burden of Hope's epitaph — "Nevermore!" * IV. 'Tis done ; — and the woe Of the dark Long Ago Now beats on the Soul with a withering blow ; And the visions of yore Are all blasted before The burden of Hope's epitaph--" Nevermore !" 140 THE MOUNTAIN BAhD. ZF^ZR/T EIQ-HTHL The Father's Farewell. i. <3t DIEU, thou disobedient son ! ^J5% Oft have I striven but in vain To check the course that thou hast run, And freely poured my tears as rain ! With thee I've spent the wakeful night; With thee I've shared thy far delight ; For thee I've felt the rending pain ; For thee I've labored long in vain ! II. And now farewell ! I would not do To thee as thou hast done to me ; I would not pierce thy spirit through And make a boast of Victory. Thou hast my warmest blessings spurned ; From my advices thou hast turned ; Thou hast rejected Love and Truth, And followed phantasies of Youth! THE MOUNTAIN BAUD. %A\ The Misef^ r. ;HE wind blew shrill. The miser crept From out his dark and dusty room — More aptly called a living tomb — Wherein he lay but never slept; And now in deepest depth of night, Without the semblance ot a light, He seeks his gold so long his bane And clasps it to his heart again ! II. O depth of Misery and Night! The miser bending o'er his gold With bony hand and heart as cold As Polar ice, disdains the sight Of Love and Joy and Happiness, And buys with gold his deep distress! If this were money's purest end Well might we change its name to "Fiend 1" III. Tis thus the miser spends his time : The winds around his cabin door Still chant his mournful dirges o'er, As deep and deeper sinks in crime The slave of gold, the skeleton fool Whose life-blood now begins to cool ; Erelong upon his bed of rags He falls — and dies among his bags ! IV. The miser takes his leap for aye - From earth ; and as we hear his knell With deep regret the tale we tell Of how his soul was borne away ; Then comes a feeling of relief That checks the rising sigh of grief: " He's gone to dwell beneath the tomb, That better men may have his room 1" 142 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. The Silent Eeggai^. i. !HE voice of Music and the voice of Love Re echoed sweetly through the palace hall And woke the echoes of supreme delight: A beggar stood a pondering how to pr^ve His wretchedness and yet not to appall The joyous inmates sheltered from the night! II. Inside the hall 'tis happiness supreme ; Love sweetens every tone that freights the air Aud brilliancy adorns the sweet delight : Without 'tis as a fever-haunted dream ; The wailing winds are echoes of despair And ushers of the miseries of night! I'll. Inside the palace Love begins to hold His revels in the maiden lap of Youth And fill his devotees with sweet delight: The wind arises heavier and cold ; The beggar sighs aloud the fatal truth — " Age cannot long withstand this gusty night !' IV. The voice of lovers in their locked embrace Is heard within the ancient palace hall Where maidens tremble at the nuptial vow — But oh ! what agonies and woe I trace On bis decrepit brow whose opening pall Disturbs the troubled vision even now ! v. 'Tis sweetness all and fathomless delight Around the festal boards where voice of Love Re-echoes bick to Love that speaks again : The ancient beggar shivering in the night Would rather.die of hunger than to prove A recreant among the sons of men ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. ' 143 vr. Full many a lad and many a lovely lass Account their sorrows murdered with delight Since their arrival at the beauteous dome: The ancient beggar struck his cane to pass Ahead into the gusty realm of night, Awed by remembrance of his ancient home! VII. The voice of Music still resounds within ; Still heave the youthful hearts with sweet delight As touched with the celestial lamp of Joy : Again the ancient beggar did begin To seek his journey through the darksome night Tnat threatened all his vigor to destroy! viir. The dead of bight has stolen upon the scene ; The gayeties are winding to a close That solace furnished for so many a wight: The crowds disperse; when lo ! with frightful mien A ragged beggar — heir to countless woes — O'erthrown and slain by the inclement night! :o:- J HE p MILES. I. "^HE Earth was robed with glistening sn<)w ; The sun had long forborne his rays; The clouds hung heavy, dull and 'ow, Fraught with the gloom of wiatry days; — When burst a gleam of solar light That smiles inspired of pure delight. II. A youth whose pleasure was to roam Had strayed o'er many a distant plain When memories of his lovely hotae Induced him to return again ; The sire to meet the wanderer went And smiles exchanged of pure content. 144 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. in. Two lovers by the parlor fire Iu secret clasp enjoy their rest ; '■ Art mine?" " Thou know'st 'tis my desire F Of burden frees each throbbing breast ; And, as the traitorous blushes prove, Each face is fraught with smiles of love. f ENJAMIN; StRATT. jlENJAMIN STRATT wns a bachelor old ?f|§! Who seemed to live but for his gold; By toil incessant, spurning rest, He gained the Mount of Fortune's crest ; But what true joy can spring from gold? — The miser's heait is always cold. 'Tis said that Ben when in his youth Had loftier views of Love and Truth, And that his earlier love was spurned ; He then shut up his heart and turned His thoughts toward money — and in time, By toil incessant and by crime, Accumulated wealth till he The richest man was said to be In all the land. He then began To think of love and how to scan The distance measureless between Himself and her whose face serene Inspired his inmost soul with fire ; At length he roused and struck the lyre : " 'Tis long since I have thought of love, But now its power revives again, As all my trembling system proves ! Wilt thou depart from single life, And joined in love become my wife?" " What wouldst thou do?" quoth she amain, " To prove thy love ?" Poor Ben turned pale, And trembling offered to curtail THE M UN TA IN BA RD. 145 His daily rations; and to bring His heart an humble offering. " And wilt thou clothe the poor?" she cried. " I will — if thou wilt be my bride!" " Wilt thou give alms to those that preach The Sacred Word within thy reach ?" Ben turning pale made promise due And trembling asked what else to do. "Wilt thitu refit thy house?" Ben said He'd lived therein for thirty yean-, And that the furniture though worn Was good enough. His love replied : " If thou wouldst have, me for thy bride Refit thy rooms ; 'twill cost at most Not one per cent of what thou hast." Ben faltered — stammered — then replied, "I will — if thou wilt be my bride!" " Wilt thou forget thy gold the while And dress in fashionable style ?" Here Benny failed; he could not spend His gold for such a worthless end ; But offered still to dress the while His wife in fashionable style ! She rose — somewhat at liberty — And said, " Thou art too cold for me! The man that for his lover's sake Cannot the miser's habits break Need not invite me for his wife — I'd much prefer a single life !" 146 THE MOUNTAIN BALD. :F.A_:R/r .tsti^tth:. To the Pyramid of Cheops, i. CHEOPS, what art thou ? tomb ; Column for him to view who round thee plods; Or ruined temple where the flush aud bloom Of youth adored the Gods ? II. How long hast thou withstood The rolling storms that bellow round thy throne? Wilt thou not tell? or hast not understood How swiftly Time hath flown ? III. Who reared thy crest in air ? Speak'— for the anxious world awaits to hear. Have kings dwelt round thy throne that they might stare On thee from year to year ? THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 147 IV, Since first thy lofty crest Flashed in the sunlight glistening from afar, The world hath greatly changed, but had no rest From loud and cruel war, v. Hast thou not quaked with fear, When hostile armies hailed from lands unknown, And with the saber, cannon, club and spear, Fought battles round thy throne? VI. When steel-clad armies shook The Eastern World, and rushed without a check O'er stately thrones — didst thou in silence look Upon the fearful wreck ? VII. Since thou wast throned of yore, The Grecian, Persian, Roman, Arab, Turk, Yea, Frank and Saxon, all have fought before Thy face 'mid storm aud murk ! VIII. Earth's mightiest monarchies Have risen and reigned aud fallen before thy face, And left the record of their dynasties In many a warlike trace ; IX. And Science hath unfurled Her balmy wing, and ta'en her distant flight Into the West, leaving the Eastern World To Barbarism and Night ; X. Yet still thou rearest thy head Fiom off the ruins of thine ancient land From which all culture, power and light have fled — All but the ruins and sand. 14S THE MOUNTAIN BARD. Jerusalem, i. JERUSALEM ! how thy name awakes the soul 5 Of him who knows thy state in ages past, Since on thy hills the Jews assembled last, To praise Jehovah, reiuge from Sheol! II. Though stranger kings have leveled with the ground Thy walls, and torn thy holy Temple down, That on thy name shed luster and renown A thousand years through' all the regions reund — III. Though stranger gods o'er thee have held their sway And reaped the praises due to Israel's Grod — Though Pagans, Christians, Islams, all have trod Thy sacred streets and hastened their decay — IV. Thou'rt yet and still shalt be the Jew's delight, Who hold as naught all earthly praise but thine, And still expect upon thy hills to shine Messiah's face at breaking up of Night! V. iNor is thy name le?s sacred held by those Whose every act delares themselves to be Determined foes to Israel and to thee ; How complicate the tenets of thy foes ! VI. Since from thy sacred hills triumphant shone Great Caesar's blood stained banner waving high, Undecked has been thy face, unheard thy cry, And thou hast been by alien powers cast down. VII. The Roman, Persian, Arab, Osoaan, all Have turn by turn despoiled thy sacred lands ; And e'en crusaders with their blood stained hands Have swayed thy scepter — finished up thy fall ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. j.49 vnr. Meanwhile thy guardian race afar dispersed By tyrants were forbid to see thy face; Thus eighteen centuries; yet time nor place Has changed the dogmas by their sires rehearsed ! IX. And though Destruction has detaced thy mount Till naught of former grandeur now remains, Thy sons still hope to break their servile chains, Rebuild thy glory, drink from out thy fount! X. Just God ! why lies Thy ancient city thus? Why rules the Moslem o'er Thy chosen land ? Why not the Jew permitted be to stand Upon these hills so famed in ancient verse ? XI. Is not Thy cup of vengeance emptied yet? Shall Israel's days of sorrow have no end? Shall Judah's sons no more thy hills ascend And offer praises where their freedom set? XII. Yes 1 Time will roll till fair Jerusalem Shall reasceud from out her worn debris, Resume her station, prove herself to be The Jews' inheritance — their priceless gem ! (RUSADERS AT JERUSALEM. The Crusaders at J 1 1. ERUSALEM swims in blood ! anon The dread commanders spend new breath To urge their fiery warriors on To deeds of Death. 150 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. II. The sacred hills where in the days Of yore full many a worthy trod, Are filled with slaughter for the praise Of Judah's God ! HI. Fanaticism inspires the hearts Of armies hailing from afar, And all the power to vigor starts That dwells in war. IV. The inhumau sound of woman's cry Dies off, nor on the 'warrior's ear Makes noted impress; lowers the sky Dark, bleak and drear. v. The thunders of Almighty Power Are rolling o'er, the destined throng ; And in an unprepared hour Sweep all along. VI. Dire sounds the war, and dire the cry Aseends from the tumultuous crowd ; While sulphurous smoke ascending high Forms quite a cloud. VII. Jerusalem on her ancient hills Ne'er felt but once a bloodier war ; But this the prophecy fulfills Of times afar. VIII. Behold ! where Solomon's Temple stood, A citadel with blood is drenched ! Crusaders' thirst for tears and blood Cannot be quenched. THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 151 IX. A mob at least ten thousand strong Are murdered, and the horrid cry Ascends amid the conqueror's song The crimson skv. X. And now behold ! with dripping hands The dread Crusaders kneel before The Sepulcher; these murdering bands Their God adore! XI. O depths of Infamy and Shame ! Let reason pluck the life of War; And Justice tremble at the name, And stand afar. XII. 'Tis o'er; Jerusalem, piled on heaps, Sends forth an agonizing groan ; And Godefroy aided by the Powers Ascends the thrrne. XIV. And while tumultuous clouds surround Of wars and tears, he sits secure On Salem's throne; a sovereign crowned With heart impure. XV. Thus Judah, Fate decreed thy doom, Since thou didst scorn thy rightful Lard ; Thy fall begun when crushed by Rome, And ends abhorred. XVI. Yet thou wilt rear thy head on high When better times thy power release, And hail beneath a gracious sky, Returning Peace I 162 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. JA oscow, T. I BANDONED to a furious foe PI Whose code of war all nations know, Thou art adjudged to scenes of woe, Moscow ! n- The greatest warrior earth hath known, Surveys thee — powerless and alone — And deems thy palaces his own, Moscow ! III. Then rouse thee to thy double might! Pass round the cheers and enter fight ; The earth shall judge who's in the right, Moscow ! IV. Thou art the key to Fortune's door, Than which Napoleon asks no more ; Defeated here his game is o'er, Moscow ! V. Ha ! whence those flames that wrap the sky ? Hast thou resolved for once to try A suicidal victory ? Moscow ! VI. 'Tis o'er ; the invader now must flee ; One struggle more and earth is free ! Whom should we honor more than thee ? Moscow ! THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 153 The Battle of Trafalgar t. |HE battle stood. The frightened whale Sunk to the caverns of the sea ; The birds ascended ; then the gale Burst wild and free. II. The Saxon and the Frank have met Once more in battle ; tears and blood Are freely poured upon the jet And startled flood. III. From many a brazen gun the flame Burst fiercely forth — a vivid stream — And nations trembled at the name That 's now our theme. IV. Dread lightnings flashed from shore to shore ; Infernal thunders shook the world ; And France and Albion rushed through gore With flag unfurled. y. Cadiz, from off her island throne, Gazed seaward ; trembled at the roar, Gibraltar on his heaps of stone And marred his shore. VI. Great was the loss and great the woe That this king-making battle cost ; Tis o'er ; and e'en the victory To us is lost. VII. The fight is lost to all but Fame ; Dread Fame- that stands amid the war, And shouts '~i thunder tones the name Of "Trafalgar!" 154 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. P AD1Z. I. ERE Rome's foundation stone Was hewn or placed, or London had her birtb, Or dynasty ;issurned a royal throne That figures on the Earth ; II. Ere Grecian heroes trod The fields of Glory or the assembled throngs Beneath the Temple's roof adored their God In prayer and fervent songs ; 111: While round the Earth was thrown — One Laud except — a darkness deep, profound ; — Cadiz from off her sea bound island shone Conspicuous far around. IV. For thrice a thousand years, 'Mid wreck of falling empires and the groan, Or armed with roaring guns or armed with spears, Her isle has been her throne. V. As ages rolled along, The native Celt, the Roman, Goth and Moor, Each in his turu with sinewy arm and strong Spread tumult round her shore. VI. Full many a Pagan breathed From in her bounds his spirit back to God ; Yea, Islam too ; since when in glory wreathed Her shores have Christians trod. VII. Should cycles endless roll O'er Earth as now 'tis formed, her active part Of countless scenes from out the human soul Would never, ne'er depart. THE MOUNTAIN BARD. 155 The Turk-B 1. CONSTANTINOPLE powerless stands A powerful eityi" cried the Turk; And marshalled forth, his variant bands. And set to work. If. The East already owned his sway.; His pride was al Ambition's height; His valor feared u<> £ight by day Nor plot by night. III. Around him gathered at his eall His war -chiefs filled with zeal for war, And swore to conquer or to fall In climes afar. IV. The Islam horde with flag unfurled To conquest marched beyond the Strait, And filled with fury bade the world Yield to her fate. v. And Europe — O, what deep disgrace! — Filled with intestine violence, Stood mute and in the " Turk bell" placed Her confidence I VI. Brief was the war. The Sultan gained Constantinople's barracks; and His dynasty has since profaned The Grecian land. VII. Let States no more a barbarous horde Strive to impede with Heavenly arms; Or ring the " Turk-bell" when the cloud Of war alarms/ 156 THE MOUNTAIN BARD. The Fame of Jerusalem. jfERUSALEM! thou City of God, g|r Wherein the wise kino; Solomon trod ! Why hist thou been in later time The seat of Crime? II. Thy day of power is gone ; When Rome sat foot upon Thy sacred hills, she hurhd the blight Of deepest Night! III. Proudest of ancient cities, thou Hast outlived War; and even now Though trampled by the foe, thy name Still shines the same. IV. Imperial Rome would sooner fail To lure the traveler, or the wail Of Babylon cease to rend the sky, Than thou wouldst die. V. Thou judgment-place of Jesus! Who Can give thy name the reverence due? When we remember whither trod The Son of God ! VI. O'er every place beneath the sky Hans: dark Oblivion's curtains high ; But thou hast plucked 'mid scenes of strife The Tree of Life ! 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