War Lyrics dedicated to the friends of the dead. By A. and L. Shore. Second edition, with additions |
 |
THE GOOD PHYSICIAN. |
 | War Lyrics |  |
67
THE GOOD PHYSICIAN.
[_]
[The name of Dr. Thomson, Assistant-Surgeon of the 44th Regiment, is well known. Of his soldier-servant and fellow-worker, a letter to the Times says:—“He is, I believe, still living. I have heard his name mentioned in terms of the greatest gratitude and admiration by the whole army in the Crimea, as John M'Grath, but have never heard of his having as yet received any reward for his noble devotion in the cause of humanity.” —Extract from a letter signed, “An Officer who was on the spot.”]
Thou God's true soldier! take thy place with those
Fall'n children of renown!
No swordsman fighting off a crowd of foes,
Toiled for a braver crown
Than thou, meek Duty's knight, who on thine arms lay'st down.
Fall'n children of renown!
No swordsman fighting off a crowd of foes,
Toiled for a braver crown
Than thou, meek Duty's knight, who on thine arms lay'st down.
68
Lo! Alma's bloody battle-banquet o'er,
And the red revel left
In wasteful fragments and spilt cups of gore,
Vessels of life bereft,
And the half dead with limbs by British bayonets cleft.
And the red revel left
In wasteful fragments and spilt cups of gore,
Vessels of life bereft,
And the half dead with limbs by British bayonets cleft.
Hatred, and Wrath, and Death have had their day,
Their sickles swept the plains,
Now comes thine hour—'tis thine the last to stay
And glean with tender pains
The scattered fruit of Life, spared from their ghastly gains.
Their sickles swept the plains,
Now comes thine hour—'tis thine the last to stay
And glean with tender pains
The scattered fruit of Life, spared from their ghastly gains.
Thou seest thy comrades all stride past thee, plumed
With victory, to new fights—
Silent, as by past carnage still engloomed,
Watch round those shadowy heights;
Cossacks behind the hush swooping for prey like kites.
With victory, to new fights—
Silent, as by past carnage still engloomed,
Watch round those shadowy heights;
Cossacks behind the hush swooping for prey like kites.
69
Round thee a dead and dying company!—
There find'st thou thy last place,
Amid those yet armed savages who lie
With dark distrustful face,
And looks that long to smite that Friend of hated race.
There find'st thou thy last place,
Amid those yet armed savages who lie
With dark distrustful face,
And looks that long to smite that Friend of hated race.
All day from Death's dumb heaps dost thou untomb
Life that but breathes in sighs,
Amongst departing souls, through night's long gloom,
Move thy true ministries,
Where none sleep save the dead, and wide wake danger's eyes.
Life that but breathes in sighs,
Amongst departing souls, through night's long gloom,
Move thy true ministries,
Where none sleep save the dead, and wide wake danger's eyes.
But for one faithful helper, all alone!—
Those five days counted o'er
Three hundred rescued lives—and then thine own,
Strained to its task no more,
Went from that prostrate crowd laid out on Earth's stained floor.
Those five days counted o'er
Three hundred rescued lives—and then thine own,
Strained to its task no more,
Went from that prostrate crowd laid out on Earth's stained floor.
70
“Farewell and greeting, follower of the Best
Physician, Friend to man!”
Breathed from dim eyes on earth or souls at rest,
Whose new life just began—
“Go from our hearts to God's, thou good Samaritan!”
Physician, Friend to man!”
Breathed from dim eyes on earth or souls at rest,
Whose new life just began—
“Go from our hearts to God's, thou good Samaritan!”
A February 24, 1855.
| War Lyrics | |