 | Poems of the war |  |
150
SONG
FOR THE LOYAL NATIONAL LEAGUE OF NEW YORK, ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE ATTACK ON FORT SUMTER,
April 11, 1863.
When our banner went down,
With its ancient renown,
Betrayed and degraded by treason,
Did they think, as it fell,
What a passion would swell
Our hearts when we asked them the reason?
O, then, rally, brave men,
To the standard again,
The flag that proclaims us a nation!
We will fight, on its part,
While there 's life in a heart,
And then trust to the next generation.
With its ancient renown,
Betrayed and degraded by treason,
Did they think, as it fell,
What a passion would swell
Our hearts when we asked them the reason?
O, then, rally, brave men,
To the standard again,
The flag that proclaims us a nation!
We will fight, on its part,
While there 's life in a heart,
And then trust to the next generation.
151
Although causeless the blow
That at Sumter laid low
That flag, it was seed for the morrow;
And a thousand flags flew,
For the one that fell true,
As traitors have found to their sorrow.
O, then, rally, brave men,
To the standard again,
The flag that proclaims us a nation!
We will fight, on its part,
While there 's life in a heart,
And then trust to the next generation.
That at Sumter laid low
That flag, it was seed for the morrow;
And a thousand flags flew,
For the one that fell true,
As traitors have found to their sorrow.
O, then, rally, brave men,
To the standard again,
The flag that proclaims us a nation!
We will fight, on its part,
While there 's life in a heart,
And then trust to the next generation.
'T was in flashes of flame
It was brought to a shame
Till then unrecorded in story;
But in flashes as bright
It shall rise in our sight,
And float over Sumter in glory!
O, then, rally, brave men,
To the standard again,
The flag that proclaims us a nation!
We will fight, on its part,
While there 's life in a heart,
And then trust to the next generation.
It was brought to a shame
Till then unrecorded in story;
But in flashes as bright
It shall rise in our sight,
And float over Sumter in glory!
152
To the standard again,
The flag that proclaims us a nation!
We will fight, on its part,
While there 's life in a heart,
And then trust to the next generation.
| Poems of the war | |