The miscellaneous works of David Humphreys Late Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America to the Court of Madrid |
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 | The miscellaneous works of David Humphreys |  |
But hark, the trump through every region blown,
Sounds from cold Lawrence to the burning zone;
Thy cause, humanity! that swells its breath,
Wakes in each bosom cool contempt of death.
By rumbling drums from distant regions call'd,
Men, scorning pirate rage, start unappall'd:
With eye-balls flaming, checks of crimson flush,
From rice-green fields and fir-clad mountains rush
High-mettled youths—unus'd to sights of slain,
Of hostile navies, or the stormy main,
Enrag'd, they leave unfinish'd furrows far,
To dare the deep, and toil in fields of war.
From dreams of peace the sleeping vet'rans wake,
Their rattling arms, with grasp indignant, shake;
Those arms, their pride, their country's gift, what day
To independence they had op'd the way;
Frowning wide ruin, terrible they rise,
Like battling thunders bursting from the skies.
From Erie's inland vales, unnam'd in song,
In native fierceness pour the hunter throng:
Beneath their rapid march realms roll behind;
Their uncomb'd locks loose floating on the wind:
Coarse their worn garbs—they place their only pride
In the dread rifle, oft in battle tried:
With aim unbalk'd, whose leaden vengeance sings,
Sure as the dart the king of terror flings.
So erst, brave Morgan, thy bold hunters sped—
Such light-arm'd youths the gallant Fayette led—
Ere Steuben brought the Prussian lore from far,
Or Knox created all the stores of war.
Through tented fields impetuous ardour spreads—
Rous'd by the trump the coursers rear their heads,
Snuff in the tainted gale the nitrous grain,
Responsive neigh, and prance the wide champaign.
Sounds from cold Lawrence to the burning zone;
Thy cause, humanity! that swells its breath,
Wakes in each bosom cool contempt of death.
By rumbling drums from distant regions call'd,
Men, scorning pirate rage, start unappall'd:
With eye-balls flaming, checks of crimson flush,
From rice-green fields and fir-clad mountains rush
High-mettled youths—unus'd to sights of slain,
Of hostile navies, or the stormy main,
Enrag'd, they leave unfinish'd furrows far,
To dare the deep, and toil in fields of war.
From dreams of peace the sleeping vet'rans wake,
Their rattling arms, with grasp indignant, shake;
Those arms, their pride, their country's gift, what day
To independence they had op'd the way;
Frowning wide ruin, terrible they rise,
Like battling thunders bursting from the skies.
From Erie's inland vales, unnam'd in song,
In native fierceness pour the hunter throng:
Beneath their rapid march realms roll behind;
Their uncomb'd locks loose floating on the wind:
Coarse their worn garbs—they place their only pride
In the dread rifle, oft in battle tried:
With aim unbalk'd, whose leaden vengeance sings,
Sure as the dart the king of terror flings.
57
Such light-arm'd youths the gallant Fayette led—
Ere Steuben brought the Prussian lore from far,
Or Knox created all the stores of war.
Through tented fields impetuous ardour spreads—
Rous'd by the trump the coursers rear their heads,
Snuff in the tainted gale the nitrous grain,
Responsive neigh, and prance the wide champaign.
| The miscellaneous works of David Humphreys | |