“Ah, God be thanked! our friends are nigh; He wills it not that thus we die; O fiends accurst Of Want and Thirst, Our comrades gather,--do your worst!” A sharp affright runs through the night, An ambush stirred, a column reined; The hurrying steed has checked his speed, His smoking flanks are crimson stained. O noble son of noble sire, Thine ears are deaf to our desire! O knightly grace Of valiant race, The grave is honor’s trysting-place! O life so pure! O faith so sure! O heart so brave, and true, and strong! With tips of flame is writ your name, In annaled deed and storied song! It flares across the solemn night, It glitters in the radiant light; A jewel set, Unnumbered yet, In our Republic’s coronet! KATE BROWNLEE SHERWOOD. (By special permission of the author.) 41 FARRAGUT Farragut, Farragut, Old Heart of Oak, Daring Dave Farragut, Thunderbolt stroke, Watches the hoary mist Lift from the bay, Till his flag, glory-kissed, Greets the young day. Far, by gray Morgan’s walls, Looms the black fleet. Hark, deck to rampart calls With the drums’ beat! Buoy your chains overboard, While the steam hums; Men, to the battlement! Farragut comes. See, as the hurricane Hurtles in wrath Squadrons of clouds amain Back from its path, Back to the parapet, To the guns’ lips, Thunderbolt Farragut Hurls the black ships! Now through the battle’s roar Clear the boy sings, “By the mark fathoms four,” While the lead swings. Steady the wheelmen five “Nor’ by East keep her”; “Steady,” but two alive: How the shells sweep her! Lashed to the mast that sways Over red decks, Over the flame that plays Round the torn wrecks, Over the dying lips Framed for a cheer, Farragut leads his ships, Guides the line clear. On by heights cannon-browed, While the spars quiver; Onward still flames the cloud Where the hulks shiver. See, yon fort’s star is set, Storm and fire past! Cheer him, lads--Farragut Lashed to the mast! Oh, while Atlantic’s breast Bears a white sail, While the Gulf’s towering crest Tops a green vale, Men thy bold deeds shall tell, Old Heart of Oak, Daring Dave Farragut, Thunderbolt stroke! WILLIAM TUCKEY MEREDITH. (By special permission of The Century Company.) 42 LEE TO THE REAR Dawn of a pleasant morning in May Broke through the Wilderness cool and gray, While, perched in the tallest treetops, the birds Were caroling Mendelssohn’s “Songs without Words.”