As he thought of the stake in that fiery fray, But there is a road from Winchester town, And there, through the flush of the morning light, He stretched away with his utmost speed; Still sprang from those swift hoofs, thundering South, The heart of the steed and the heart of the master Every nerve of the charger was strained to full play, Under his spurning feet, the road And the landscape sped away behind And the steed, like a bark fed with furnace ire, But lo! he is nearing his heart's desire; The first that the General saw were the groups Of stragglers, and then the retreating troops; What was done? what to do? a glance told him both. He dashed down the line, 'mid a storm of huzzas, And the wave of retreat checked its course there, because The sight of the master compelled it to pause. With foam and with dust the black charger was gray; "I have brought you Sheridan all the way Hurrah! hurrah for Sheridan! Hurrah! hurrah for horse and man! By carrying Sheridan into the fight, From Winchester - twenty miles away!" OH! WHY SHOULD THE SPIRIT OF MORTAL BE PROUD? OH! why should the spirit of mortal be proud? Like a swift-fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud, A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave, The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade, And the young and the old, and the low and the high The infant a mother attended and loved; The maid on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye And the memory of those who loved her and praised The hand of the king that the sceptre hath borne; The peasant, whose lot was to sow and to reap; The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep; The saint who enjoyed the communion of heaven; So the multitude goes, like the flowers or the weed For we are the same our fathers have been; The thoughts we are thinking our fathers would think; They loved, but the story we cannot unfold; They died, aye! they died; and we things that are now, Yea! hope and despondency, pleasure and pain, And the smiles and the tears, the song and the dirge, 'Tis the wink of an eye, 't is the draught of a breath; THE MAY QUEEN. You must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear; There's many a black, black eye, they say, but none so bright as mine; There's Margaret and Mary, there's Kate and Caroline; But none so fair as little Alice in all the land, they say: So I'm to be Queen of the May, mother, I'm to be Queen of the May. I sleep so sound all night, mother, that I shall never wake, As I came up the valley, whom think ye should I see, But Robin, leaning on the bridge beneath the hazel-tree? He thought of that sharp look, mother, I gave him yesterday: But I'm to be Queen of the May, mother, I'm to be Queen of the May. He thought I was a ghost, mother, for I was all in white, They call me cruel-hearted, but I care not what they say, For I'm to be Queen of the May, mother, I'm to be Queen of the May. They say he is dying all for love, but that can never be: They say his heart is breaking, mother—what is that to me? There's many a bolder lad 'll woo me any summer day; And I'm to be Queen of the May, mother, I'm to be Queen of the May. Little Effie shall go with me to-morrow to the green, And you 'll be there too, mother, to see me made the Queen: The honeysuckle round the porch has woven its wavy bowers; And by the meadow-trenches blow the faint sweet cuckoo-flowers; And the wild marsh-marigold shines like fire in swamps and hollows gray; And I'm to be Queen of the May, mother, I'm to be Queen of the May. The night-winds come and go, mother, upon the meadow-grass, And the happy stars above them seem to brighten as they pass; There will not be a drop of rain the whole of the livelong day; And I'm to be Queen of the May, mother, I'm to be Queen of the May. All the valley, mother, 'll be fresh and green and still, So you must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear; |