 | [Poems by Cary in] The poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary |  |
NAPOLEON AT THE DEATH OF DUROC.
Thou who movest through the tent-lights,
Like a cloud among the stars,
With the flags about thee streaming
Like the shadows of red Mars;
Like a cloud among the stars,
With the flags about thee streaming
Like the shadows of red Mars;
Art thou he who lately slumbered
By the Nile with turbans red,
While the children of the desert
Wailed about thee for their dead?
By the Nile with turbans red,
While the children of the desert
Wailed about thee for their dead?
Yes, thou 'rt he whose standards fluttered
Where the Rhine's bright billows flow,
And where brave men left their footprints
Red in Hohenlinden's snow!
Where the Rhine's bright billows flow,
And where brave men left their footprints
Red in Hohenlinden's snow!
He, upon whose shattered columns,
Darkened by the artillery's frown,
At the awful Beresina,
Victory's starry wings came down!
Darkened by the artillery's frown,
At the awful Beresina,
Victory's starry wings came down!
From the plains of Rio Seco
To Siberia's mountain heights,
Glory with thy name is blended,
Hero of a thousand fights!
To Siberia's mountain heights,
Glory with thy name is blended,
Hero of a thousand fights!
Yet thou movest through the tent-lights
Like a cloud among the stars,
With the flags about thee floating
Like the shadows of red Mars.
Like a cloud among the stars,
With the flags about thee floating
Like the shadows of red Mars.
22
One thy great soul loves is dying,
One of courage true and tried,
And the spirit faints, and triumph
Fails before affection's tide.
One of courage true and tried,
And the spirit faints, and triumph
Fails before affection's tide.
Hark! the bursts of lordly music
On the midnight rise and fall!
Wounded Eagle of the Legion,
Wilt thou answer to its call?
On the midnight rise and fall!
Wounded Eagle of the Legion,
Wilt thou answer to its call?
Yes, the Imperial Guard are flying
Toward the dark tent of the king!
Death hath taken home his captive,
Is the tidings which they bring!
Toward the dark tent of the king!
Death hath taken home his captive,
Is the tidings which they bring!
Therefore moves he through the tent-lights
Like a cloud among the stars,
With the flags about him trailing
Like the shadows of red Mars!
Like a cloud among the stars,
With the flags about him trailing
Like the shadows of red Mars!
| [Poems by Cary in] The poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary | |