 | The Dramatic and Poetical Works of Joanna Baillie |  |
823
VOLUNTEER'S SONG,
WRITTEN IN 1803.
Ye who Britain's soldiers be,—
Freemen, children of the free,
Who quickly come at danger's call,
From shop and palace, cot and hall,
And brace ye bravely up in warlike gear,
For all that ye hold dear;
Freemen, children of the free,
Who quickly come at danger's call,
From shop and palace, cot and hall,
And brace ye bravely up in warlike gear,
For all that ye hold dear;
Blest in your hands be sword and spear!
There is no banded Briton here
On whom some fond mate hath not smiled,
Or hung in love some lisping child,
Or aged parent, grasping his last stay,
With locks of honour'd gray.
There is no banded Briton here
On whom some fond mate hath not smiled,
Or hung in love some lisping child,
Or aged parent, grasping his last stay,
With locks of honour'd gray.
Such men behold with steady pride,
The threaten'd tempest gathering wide,
And list with onward form inclined
To sound of foe-men on the wind,
And bravely act amid the battle's roar,
In seenes untried before.
The threaten'd tempest gathering wide,
And list with onward form inclined
To sound of foe-men on the wind,
And bravely act amid the battle's roar,
In seenes untried before.
Let veterans boast, as well they may,
Nerves steel'd in many a bloody day;
The generous heart, who takes his stand
Upon his free and native land,
Doth, with the first sound of the hostile drum,
A fearless man become.
Nerves steel'd in many a bloody day;
The generous heart, who takes his stand
Upon his free and native land,
Doth, with the first sound of the hostile drum,
A fearless man become.
Then come, ye hosts, that madly pour
From wave-toss'd floats upon our shore!
If fell or gentle, false or true,
Let those inquire, who wish to sue:
Nor fiend nor hero from a foreign strand,
Shall lord it in our land.
From wave-toss'd floats upon our shore!
If fell or gentle, false or true,
Let those inquire, who wish to sue:
Nor fiend nor hero from a foreign strand,
Shall lord it in our land.
Come, then, ye hosts that madly pour
From wave-toss'd floats upon our shore!
An adverse wind or breezeless main
Lock'd in their ports our tars detain,
To waste their eager spirits, vainly keen,
Else here ye had not been.
From wave-toss'd floats upon our shore!
An adverse wind or breezeless main
Lock'd in their ports our tars detain,
To waste their eager spirits, vainly keen,
Else here ye had not been.
Yet ne'ertheless, in strong array,
Prepare ye for a well-fought day.
Let banners wave and trumpets sound,
And closing cohorts darken round,
And the fierce onset raise its mingled roar,
New sound on England's shore!
Prepare ye for a well-fought day.
Let banners wave and trumpets sound,
And closing cohorts darken round,
And the fierce onset raise its mingled roar,
New sound on England's shore!
Freemen, children of the free,
Are brave alike on land or sea;
And every rood of British ground,
On which a hostile spear is found,
Proves under their firm tread and vigorous stroke,
A deck of royal oak.
Are brave alike on land or sea;
And every rood of British ground,
On which a hostile spear is found,
Proves under their firm tread and vigorous stroke,
A deck of royal oak.
| The Dramatic and Poetical Works of Joanna Baillie | |