The night had taken her feast of stars, and the sun shot up in flame, When "Now for the dragon! Who hunts the dragon?" The call from the watchers came; And, shaking the mists of sleep away, The men stepped into the light of day, Twice two hundred in loose array; With a good round dozen of bards to lead them And their wives all waving their hands to speed them, While the Chief Bard, fixed in his chair of state, With his harp and his wreath looked most sedate. It wasn't his place to fight or tramp; When the warriors went he stayed in camp; But still from his chair he harped them on Till the very last of the host had gone, Then he yawned and solemnly shook his head And, leaving his seat, returned to bed, To sleep, as a good man will Who, braving malice and tittle-tattle, Has checked his natural lust for battle, And sent the rest to the gorse-clad summit, the summit of Winter Hill. III Marching at ease in the cheerful air, on duty and daring bent, In quest of the dragon, The fateful dragon, The fierce four hundred went: Over the hills and through the plain, And up the slopes of the hills again. The sleek rooks, washed in the morning's dew, Rose at their coming and flapped and flew In a black procession athwart the blue; And the plovers circled about on high With many a querulous piping cry. And the cropping ewes and the old bell-wether Looked up in terror and pushed together; And still with a grim unbroken pace The men moved on to their battle-place. Softly, silently, all tip-toeing, With their lips drawn tight and their eyes all glowing, With gleaming teeth and straining ears And the sunshine laughing on swords and spears, Softly, silently on they go To the hidden lair of the fearful foe. They have neared the stream, they have crossed the bridge, And they stop in sight of the rugged ridge, And it's "Flankers back!" and "Skirmishers in!" And the summit is theirs to lose or win-- To win with honour or lose with shame; And so to the place itself they came, And gazed with an awful thrill At the ridge of omen, Beset by foemen, At the arduous summit, the gorse-clad summit, the summit of Winter Hill.