Fables in Song By Robert Lord Lytton |
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XXX. |
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XXXVIII. |
XXXIX. |
XL. |
XLI. |
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XLIII. |
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XLV. |
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XLVII. |
XLVIII. |
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L. |
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LII. |
LIII. |
LIV. |
LV. |
LVI. |
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LIX. |
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![]() | Fables in Song | ![]() |
PRELUDE.
A battery, posted in haste, at last,
On the brow of a hill in the foeman's flank,
Had decided the fate of the day. Fast, fast,
In many a broken and billowy rank
The bewilder'd rear of his battle fled.
But, rapid behind, like a rushing wind
That rattles with hail, to the lowland red
Down from the ridge of the smoky hill,
The cavalry clash'd in a clattering shower;
Crushing the harvest, and chasing still
All that was left of a nation's power.
On the brow of a hill in the foeman's flank,
Had decided the fate of the day. Fast, fast,
In many a broken and billowy rank
The bewilder'd rear of his battle fled.
But, rapid behind, like a rushing wind
That rattles with hail, to the lowland red
Down from the ridge of the smoky hill,
The cavalry clash'd in a clattering shower;
Crushing the harvest, and chasing still
All that was left of a nation's power.
And wide it swept over the wasted plain,
That rapture of ruin, red in the glare
Of burning barns; and the bolted rain
Sang thro' the blacken'd and sulphurous air,
As in storm it stream'd and subsided again;
Till all was still save the far-off blare
Of a ghostly bugle, echoing chill;
Whose echoes, heard by the yet unslain
O'er leagues of litter, from hill to hill
Proclaim'd that the hurly-burly was done:
A kingdom lost and a kingdom won!
That rapture of ruin, red in the glare
Of burning barns; and the bolted rain
Sang thro' the blacken'd and sulphurous air,
As in storm it stream'd and subsided again;
27
Of a ghostly bugle, echoing chill;
Whose echoes, heard by the yet unslain
O'er leagues of litter, from hill to hill
Proclaim'd that the hurly-burly was done:
A kingdom lost and a kingdom won!
![]() | Fables in Song | ![]() |