 | A sheaf of verse bound for the fair |  |
33
THE HERO OF LAKE ERIE.
On a green knoll in yonder field of graves,
Where the rank grass o'er mound and tablet waves,
A granite shaft allures the vagrant eye
To where the ashes of a hero lie.
This briny air, in its perennial sweep,
Nerved his young frame to conquer on the deep;
Around these shores, a boy, with sportive ease
He trimmed his shallop to the wayward breeze;
A fearless athlete, in his summer play,
He clove the surf of this unrivalled bay;
Trod the lone cliff where storm-lashed billows roll,
To see the rocks their baffled rage control,
Or watch their serried ranks majestic pour
A ceaseless tribute on his native shore;
The snowy fringes on each leaping surge,
Like victors' wreaths, heroic purpose urge;
In their wild roar the deadly charge he hears,
Feels in their spray a nation's grateful tears;
The mellow sunsets, whose emblazoned crest
With purple radiance flushes all the west,
Like glory's banner, to his vision spread,
To guide the living, consecrate the dead!
Where the rank grass o'er mound and tablet waves,
A granite shaft allures the vagrant eye
To where the ashes of a hero lie.
This briny air, in its perennial sweep,
Nerved his young frame to conquer on the deep;
Around these shores, a boy, with sportive ease
He trimmed his shallop to the wayward breeze;
A fearless athlete, in his summer play,
He clove the surf of this unrivalled bay;
Trod the lone cliff where storm-lashed billows roll,
To see the rocks their baffled rage control,
Or watch their serried ranks majestic pour
A ceaseless tribute on his native shore;
The snowy fringes on each leaping surge,
Like victors' wreaths, heroic purpose urge;
In their wild roar the deadly charge he hears,
Feels in their spray a nation's grateful tears;
The mellow sunsets, whose emblazoned crest
With purple radiance flushes all the west,
Like glory's banner, to his vision spread,
To guide the living, consecrate the dead!
His boyhood thus by winds and waves beguiled,
Here Nature cradled her intrepid child;
Won his clear gaze to scan the horizon wall,
His heart with ocean's heart to rise and fall,
His ear to drink the music of the gale,
His pulse to leap with the careering sail,
His brow the landscape's open look to wear,
His eye to freshen in this crystal air;
Braced by her rigors, melted by her smile,
She reared the hero of her peerless isle.
Here Nature cradled her intrepid child;
Won his clear gaze to scan the horizon wall,
His heart with ocean's heart to rise and fall,
34
His pulse to leap with the careering sail,
His brow the landscape's open look to wear,
His eye to freshen in this crystal air;
Braced by her rigors, melted by her smile,
She reared the hero of her peerless isle.
Then went he forth—not like a knight of old,
Armed at all points, with veterans enrolled,
But in the strength of a devoted will,
A martyr's patience and a patriot's skill:
No fleet was his whose guns and pennons bore
The tested might of conquests won of yore:
The trees whose shadow played o'er Erie's wave,
Were felled and launched—a rampart for the brave;
The oak that stretched its leafy branches there,
And dallied lightly with the autumn air,
One morn, a sturdy bulwark of the free,
Floated the empress of that inland sea!
No gray survivors of that battle's wreck
Manned the rude ports of her unpolished deck;
Destined to grapple with a practised foe,
The will to fight is all her champions know.
Armed at all points, with veterans enrolled,
But in the strength of a devoted will,
A martyr's patience and a patriot's skill:
No fleet was his whose guns and pennons bore
The tested might of conquests won of yore:
The trees whose shadow played o'er Erie's wave,
Were felled and launched—a rampart for the brave;
The oak that stretched its leafy branches there,
And dallied lightly with the autumn air,
One morn, a sturdy bulwark of the free,
Floated the empress of that inland sea!
No gray survivors of that battle's wreck
Manned the rude ports of her unpolished deck;
Destined to grapple with a practised foe,
The will to fight is all her champions know.
Sublime the pause when down the gleaming tide
The virgin galleys to the conflict glide;
The very wind, as if in awe or grief,
Scarce wakes a ripple, or disturbs a leaf;
The lighted brand, the piles of iron hail,
The boatswain's whistle and the fluttering sail,
The thick-strewn sand beneath their noiseless tread,
To drink the gallant blood as yet unshed,
The long-drawn breath, the glance of mutual cheer,
Eager with hope, oblivious of fear,
Valor's stern mood, affection's pensive sigh,
Alone declare relentless havoc nigh.
Behold the chieftain's glad, prophetic smile,
As a new banner he unrolls the while;
Hear the gay shout of his elated crew
When the dear watchword hovers to their view,
And Lawrence, silent in the arms of death,
Bequeaths defiance with his latest breath.
The virgin galleys to the conflict glide;
The very wind, as if in awe or grief,
Scarce wakes a ripple, or disturbs a leaf;
The lighted brand, the piles of iron hail,
The boatswain's whistle and the fluttering sail,
The thick-strewn sand beneath their noiseless tread,
35
The long-drawn breath, the glance of mutual cheer,
Eager with hope, oblivious of fear,
Valor's stern mood, affection's pensive sigh,
Alone declare relentless havoc nigh.
Behold the chieftain's glad, prophetic smile,
As a new banner he unrolls the while;
Hear the gay shout of his elated crew
When the dear watchword hovers to their view,
And Lawrence, silent in the arms of death,
Bequeaths defiance with his latest breath.
Why to one point turns every graceful prow?
What scares the eagle from his lonely bough?
What scares the eagle from his lonely bough?
A bugle note far through the welkin rings,
From ship to ship its airy challenge flings,
Then round each hull the murky war-clouds loom,
The lightnings glare, the sullen thunders boom;
Peal follows peal, and with each lurid flash,
The tall masts shiver, and the bulwarks crash;
The shrouds hang loose, the decks are wet with gore,
And dying shrieks resound along the shore;
As fall the bleeding victims, one by one,
Their messmates rally to the smoking gun;
As the maimed forms are sadly borne away
From the fierce carnage of that murderous fray,
A fitful joy lights up each drooping eye
To see the starry banner floating high;
Or mark their unharmed leader's dauntless air
(His life enfolded in his loved one's prayer;)
Pity and high resolve his bosom rend,
“Not o'er MY head shall that bright flag descend!”
With brief monition from the hulk he springs,
To a fresh deck his rapid transit wings,
Back to the strife exultant shapes his way,
Again to test the fortunes of the day.
As bears the noble consort slowly down,
Portentous now her teeming cannon frown;
List to the volleys that incessant break
The ancient silence of that border lake!
As lifts the smoke, what tongue can fitly tell
The transports which those manly bosoms swell,
When Britain's ensign down the reeling mast
Sinks, to proclaim the desperate struggle past!
Electric cheers along the shattered fleet,
With rapturous hail, her youthful hero greet;
Meek in his triumph, as in danger calm,
With reverent hand he takes the victor's palm;
His wreath of conquest on Faith's altar lays,
To his brave comrades yields the meed of praise;
With mercy's balm allays the captive's woe,
And wrings oblation from his vanquished foe!
From ship to ship its airy challenge flings,
Then round each hull the murky war-clouds loom,
The lightnings glare, the sullen thunders boom;
Peal follows peal, and with each lurid flash,
The tall masts shiver, and the bulwarks crash;
The shrouds hang loose, the decks are wet with gore,
And dying shrieks resound along the shore;
As fall the bleeding victims, one by one,
Their messmates rally to the smoking gun;
As the maimed forms are sadly borne away
From the fierce carnage of that murderous fray,
A fitful joy lights up each drooping eye
To see the starry banner floating high;
36
(His life enfolded in his loved one's prayer;)
Pity and high resolve his bosom rend,
“Not o'er MY head shall that bright flag descend!”
With brief monition from the hulk he springs,
To a fresh deck his rapid transit wings,
Back to the strife exultant shapes his way,
Again to test the fortunes of the day.
As bears the noble consort slowly down,
Portentous now her teeming cannon frown;
List to the volleys that incessant break
The ancient silence of that border lake!
As lifts the smoke, what tongue can fitly tell
The transports which those manly bosoms swell,
When Britain's ensign down the reeling mast
Sinks, to proclaim the desperate struggle past!
Electric cheers along the shattered fleet,
With rapturous hail, her youthful hero greet;
Meek in his triumph, as in danger calm,
With reverent hand he takes the victor's palm;
His wreath of conquest on Faith's altar lays,
To his brave comrades yields the meed of praise;
With mercy's balm allays the captive's woe,
And wrings oblation from his vanquished foe!
While Erie's currents lave her winding shore,
Or down the crags a rushing torrent pour,
While floats Columbia's standard to the breeze,
No blight shall wither laurels such as these!
Or down the crags a rushing torrent pour,
While floats Columbia's standard to the breeze,
No blight shall wither laurels such as these!
| A sheaf of verse bound for the fair | |