 | Poems |  |
141
THE RETURN OF THE SWISS CRUSADERS.
“From the far clime of battle and of song,
With glorious memories and unstain'd renown,
Our sons return.”
Anon.
With glorious memories and unstain'd renown,
Our sons return.”
Anon.
We come, we come, oh, smiling home,
Our weary exile o'er;
With our vassal bands from far-off lands,
We come, we come once more.
From the clime of the vanquish'd Moslemite,
Where the red-cross flag waves free,
We have sped thro' danger, and toil, and strife,
O'er the waves of a stormy sea.
We come, oh, ye bright and laughing streams,
So lov'd in our early morning dreams,
We come ye eternal hills!
Hail! to your glens and forest's hoar,
Where our feet were wont to bound of yore,
To the music of your rills.
Our weary exile o'er;
With our vassal bands from far-off lands,
We come, we come once more.
From the clime of the vanquish'd Moslemite,
Where the red-cross flag waves free,
We have sped thro' danger, and toil, and strife,
O'er the waves of a stormy sea.
142
So lov'd in our early morning dreams,
We come ye eternal hills!
Hail! to your glens and forest's hoar,
Where our feet were wont to bound of yore,
To the music of your rills.
Full oft hath the Paynim foeman quail'd
At the flashing of our brands;
They have shone in the fight, like beams of light,
Mid our noble Alpine bands.
All spotless are our banners' folds
That on the winds are thrown;
High names and haughty do they bear,
Meet for our old renown.
Stainless and free, our warfare o'er,
To our mountain homes we come once more,
To the snows of our eagle land!
Oh! ye green valleys and forest glades,
Will ye not welcome us to your shades—
The Alpine warrior band?
At the flashing of our brands;
They have shone in the fight, like beams of light,
Mid our noble Alpine bands.
All spotless are our banners' folds
That on the winds are thrown;
High names and haughty do they bear,
Meet for our old renown.
Stainless and free, our warfare o'er,
To our mountain homes we come once more,
To the snows of our eagle land!
Oh! ye green valleys and forest glades,
Will ye not welcome us to your shades—
The Alpine warrior band?
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