 | The Writings of Bret Harte |  |
SCHEMMELFENNIG
[_]
[General Alexander Schemmelfennig commanded the forces that first entered Charleston upon its evacuation by the Confederates in 1865.]
Brave Teuton, though thy awful name
Is one no common rhyme can mimic,
Though in despair the trump of Fame
Evades thy painful patronymic—
Though orators forego thy praise,
And timid bards by tongue or pen ig-
Nore thee—thus alone I raise
Thy name in song, my Schemmelfennig!
Is one no common rhyme can mimic,
Though in despair the trump of Fame
Evades thy painful patronymic—
Though orators forego thy praise,
And timid bards by tongue or pen ig-
Nore thee—thus alone I raise
Thy name in song, my Schemmelfennig!
What though no hecatombs may swell
With mangled forms thy path victorious;
Though Charleston to thee bloodless fell,
Wert thou less valiant or less glorious?
Thou took'st tobacco—cotton—grain—
And slaves—they say a hundred and ten nig-
Gers were captives in thy train
And swelled thy pomp, my Schemmelfennig!
With mangled forms thy path victorious;
373
Wert thou less valiant or less glorious?
Thou took'st tobacco—cotton—grain—
And slaves—they say a hundred and ten nig-
Gers were captives in thy train
And swelled thy pomp, my Schemmelfennig!
Let Asboth mourn his name unsung,
And Schurz his still unwritten story;
Let Blenker grieve the silent tongue,
And Zagonyi forego his glory;
Ye are but paltry farthing lamps,
Your lights the fickle marsh or fen ig-
Nus fatuus of Southern swamps,
Beside the sun of Schemmelfennig!
And Schurz his still unwritten story;
Let Blenker grieve the silent tongue,
And Zagonyi forego his glory;
Ye are but paltry farthing lamps,
Your lights the fickle marsh or fen ig-
Nus fatuus of Southern swamps,
Beside the sun of Schemmelfennig!
| The Writings of Bret Harte | |