Читать книгу Carols of Canada, Etc., Etc - E. S. MacLeod - Страница 12

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"Unbridled appetite was followed by deadly fever, and before

Spring 1200 of Peperell's men filled graves in the conquered soil."

Brave maiden-love! bright sister-faith!

Of this Columbian land, Why should fair youth, as tidal wreck,

Drift up on either strand? Ye mothers! when your sons set sail

On life's tempestuous seas, Why pray ye Heaven's propitious calm

To quell each rising breeze?

If haste for fame, or wealth of lore,

Or thirst for worldly pelf Be set above that priceless boon,

The power to conquer self. To guard that no insidious foe

The citadel shall win; To note, as quick-eared sentinel,

The first approach of sin.

The surges tossed in seething foam

Upon that rock-bound shore; Yet the brave men of New England

Down to the leeward bore. The Frenchman's warning gun booms forth,

The heavy seas resound; What reck they! with determined mien

They tread the solid ground.

Mere raw recruits and all untrained

In stratagem of war, Not Gallia's veterans, skilled in arms,

Their landing place might bar. Through hardships dire and manifold

They upward, onward press; On, till the blossomings of hope

Are fruited with success.

And all through proud New England,

And far across the wave, The name of Massachusetts

And of her soldier brave Is linked with joy and feasting;

While Britain's fair renown Gleams fairer for the added gem,

Which decks her ancient crown.

More bright the clear, translucent sky,

More dense the shadows fall; More glorious the spirits glow,

More black the dismal pall; Oft, through celestial sunlight,

Breaks forth dull thunder shower; Oft, over brilliant visionings

Dark disappointments lower.

So, in first flush of triumph,

Crept in an artful foe, Whose craft and daring overcame

Without one open blow. More certain than the Gascon shot

In siege, on field of war; And deadlier than the scalping knife

Of subtle Indian, far.

And those brave, who never faltered

Before a human form, Who never shrank from danger's path,

Or cowered beneath a storm, Fall down before that reaper's hand

As falls the sun scorched grain; And Glory's wreath, and Victory's song

Alike are void and vain.