 | Songs Old and New |  |
147
SERREZ LES RANGS!
When of old first we heard the war-thunder
Roll round us, above us, and under,
In our ranks those dread chasms were torn
As the hailstorm sweeps paths in the corn,
When those terrible gaps first we felt,
Felt like snow-flakes our men from us melt,
Like a ghostly cry, piercing and clear
Rang the word of command on the ear,
“Close the ranks.”
Roll round us, above us, and under,
In our ranks those dread chasms were torn
As the hailstorm sweeps paths in the corn,
When those terrible gaps first we felt,
Felt like snow-flakes our men from us melt,
Like a ghostly cry, piercing and clear
Rang the word of command on the ear,
“Close the ranks.”
Through each heart the resistless words thrilled,
Not knowing whose places we filled,
Obedient, together we pressed,
In serried ranks charging abreast,
Still shoulder to shoulder were ranged,
Though the comrades be mournfully changed;—
Closed the ranks.
Not knowing whose places we filled,
Obedient, together we pressed,
In serried ranks charging abreast,
Still shoulder to shoulder were ranged,
Though the comrades be mournfully changed;—
Closed the ranks.
148
Not an instant the march must be stayed,
For no pity the battle delayed,
On we pressed, in close ranks o'er our dead,
Left our wounded where, fallen, they bled;
For the day's work had yet to be wrought,
For our dead and our wounded we fought,
For their sakes not a pause might we dare,
For their sakes lying helplessly there,
For their sakes on we pressed on our way,
Closed the ranks, sped the charge, won the day.
For no pity the battle delayed,
On we pressed, in close ranks o'er our dead,
Left our wounded where, fallen, they bled;
For the day's work had yet to be wrought,
For our dead and our wounded we fought,
For their sakes not a pause might we dare,
For their sakes lying helplessly there,
For their sakes on we pressed on our way,
Closed the ranks, sped the charge, won the day.
And now, in the battle of life,
In the thick of the old ceaseless strife,
When those terrible gaps come again,
On the heart fall the blank and the pain,
And we know, in our anguish, too well
What we lost when thus stricken they fell,
Still that Word of Command on the ear
Through the blank and death-silence rings clear,
“Close the ranks!”
In the thick of the old ceaseless strife,
When those terrible gaps come again,
On the heart fall the blank and the pain,
And we know, in our anguish, too well
What we lost when thus stricken they fell,
Still that Word of Command on the ear
Through the blank and death-silence rings clear,
“Close the ranks!”
For the sake of the comrades who died,
Press on where they fell, side by side;
For their sakes of whose stay we're bereft,
Press closer to those who are left,
The charge still pursuing abreast,
In unbroken lines faithfully pressed,
Not a moment the charge must be stayed,
For no tears be the battle delayed;
For their sakes not the feeblest despairs,
The fight and its triumphs are theirs;—
Press forward where they led the way,
Close the ranks, speed the charge, win the day.
Press on where they fell, side by side;
For their sakes of whose stay we're bereft,
Press closer to those who are left,
149
In unbroken lines faithfully pressed,
Not a moment the charge must be stayed,
For no tears be the battle delayed;
For their sakes not the feeblest despairs,
The fight and its triumphs are theirs;—
Press forward where they led the way,
Close the ranks, speed the charge, win the day.
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