The lump of gold: and other poems :: :: University of Virginia Library

Sebastopol lay shrouded
In thick November gloom,
And through the midnight silence
The guns had ceased to boom.
The sentinel outworn
In watching for the morn,
From Balaclava's heights
Beheld the Russian lights,
In the close-beleaguered fortress far adown;
And heard a sound of bells,
Wafted upwards through the dells,
And a roar of mingling voices and of anthems from the town.

245

II

They prayed the God of Justice
To aid them in the wrong,
They consecrated Murder
With jubilee and song.
To the slain, the joys of Heaven,—
To the living, sin forgiven,—
Were the promises divine
That were passed along the line,
As they gathered in their myriads ere the dawn;
While their priests in full accord,
Chanted glory to the Lord,
And blessed the Russian banner and the sword for battle drawn.

III

Stealthily and darkly,
Amid the rain and sleet;
No trumpet-call resounding,
Nor drum's tempestuous beat—

246

But shadow-like, and slow,
Came the legions of the foe,
Moving dimly up the steep
Where the British Camp asleep,
Lay unconscious of the danger lurking near;
And the soldier, breathing hard,
On the cold and sodden sward,
Dreamed of victory and glory, or of home and England dear.

IV

Hark! Hear ye not a rumbling
On the misty morning air—
Like the rush of rising tempests
When they shake the forest bare?
The outposts on the hill
Hear it close, and closer still.
'Tis the tramp of iron heels,
'Tis the crash of cannon wheels,

247

And “to arms!” “to arms!” “to arms!” is the cry.
“'Tis the Russians on our flank!
Up, and arm each British rank!
And meet them, gallant Guardsmen, to conquer or to die.”

V

Then rose the loud alarum
With a hurricane of sound,
And from short uneasy slumber
Sprang each hero from the ground;
Sprang each horseman to his steed,
Ready saddled for his need;
Sprang each soldier to his place,
With a stern, determined face;
While the rousing drum and bugle echoed far,
And the crack of rifles rung,
And the cannon found a tongue,
And down upon them bursting came the avalanche of war.

248

VI

Through the cold and foggy darkness
Sped the rocket's fiery breath,
And the light of rapid volleys,
In a haze of Living Death;
But each English heart that day
Throbbed impetuous for the fray,
And our hosts undaunted stood—
Beating back the raging flood,
That came pouring from the valley like a sea,
Casting havoc on the shore,
With a dull and sullen roar,—
The thunder-cloud above it, and the lightning flashing free.

VII

On darkness grew the daylight,
'Mid the loud, incessant peal;
On the daylight followed noontide,—
And they struggled steel to steel!

249

O ye gallant souls and true!
O ye great immortal few!
On your banner, bright unfurl'd,
Shone the freedom of the world;
In your keeping lay the safety of the lands;
Lay the splendour of our name;
Lay our glory and our fame;
And ye held and raised them all in your dauntless hearts and hands.

VIII

For a moment, and one only,
Seemed the Russians to prevail:
O ye brave eight thousand heroes!
Ye shall conquer! They shall fail!
They can face you—if they must—
But they fly your bayonet thrust.
And hark! the ringing cheer
That proclaims the French are near,

250

And is heard above the raging battle din!
Giving courage to the brave—
Striking terror to the slave,—
A signal and an omen of the victory to win!

IX

Break forth thou storm of battle,
With a new and wild uproar!
Beam out thou flag of England,
With thy sister tricolor!
For, fighting side by side,
One in spirit, heart allied—
In the cause of truth combined,
For the freedom of mankind—
France and England show the world what may be done;
And their star of glory burns
And the tide of battle turns,
And the beaten Russians fly, and the victory is won.

251

X

Thus fourteen thousand freemen,
Invincible in right,
Defeated seventy thousand,
In fierce unequal fight!
Thus Thermopylæ of old
And its men of Titan mould
Were surpassed, at duty's call,
By the Briton and the Gaul;
(May the splendour of their friendship never wane!)
By the men who fighting fell
With Cathcart and Lourmel,
Or lived with placid Raglan, avengers of the slain.

XI

And as long as France and England
Shall give birth to manlike men,
Their deeds shall be remembered
Should the battle burst again;

252

And to actions as sublime
Shall inspire each future time.
And when War's alarms shall cease,
And the nations live in peace,
Safe from Tyranny, its murder, and its ban,—
Let us tell with generous pride
How our heroes fought and died
And saved a threatened world on the heights of Inkermann!