Pauline Part I Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A B C D E FGHIJDKLMNOPQRESTUVW IXYZA2 B2OC2D2E2F2G2B2H2 I2J2K2L2M2NN2LA2 O2P2Q2R2NDA2S2LT2U2V 2XW2X2HY2Z2C2A3B3P2C 3D3E3F3G3H3I3E3J3K3O LY2L3M3 D B2N3IO3P3Q3D2I3T2R3B 3 O3JHDS3T3X2S3F2O3OU3 V3W3O3B3 X3Y3Z3A4 B4C4 S3D4X3JE4HMF2B2F4G4H 4O3I4MJ4S3O3Y3O3O3K4 V2S3 HL4O3M4N4B2O4P4S3O3B 3 O3Q4R4TS4J3B3O3T4Q4U 4O3O3S3V4W4I3X4B2Y4 S4Z4DV4O3DE3O3 J2G2J3HK2K3X4RHIO3S3 O3DZ4N2E3S3O3O3O3O3 O3O3 O3O2A2B4 O2 H4IO3 N2HRV2E3T2O3I3MRJ2S3 L3C3H4S3B2M4O3O3O3O3 V2S3 E3K4B3C2JT2OO3B4H4O3 HV4O3JJ3J3J3 F2T3J3 J3S3OA3IO3J3O3B3 J3J3J3O3O3J3FOJ3Z4DH V2I3X4D2J3DQ4O3J3GX4 J3J3J3D4S4O3J3J3J3D3 J3Q4J3J3J3J3J3O3J3J3 I3J3J3J3B2J3Q4J3O3O3 O3J3X3O3G2HJ3H3V2J3O 3O3Q4J3O3J3K4OB3J3J3 J3O3 B2J3J3B3O3T2 J3J3J3O3B2J3Q4J3O3UI 3B2HB3J3 J3J3J3O3O3J3J3 HV2HJ3Q4 O3G B3Q4J3J3 HH O3O3J3J3J3J3HHGH HFJ3B3HJ3O3HB3J3J3O3 HO3J3J3O3J3X4H J3B3O3J3O3B2J3J3O3O3 J3GY3O3OJ3A4J3J3J3UJ 3O3HJ3J3GQ4T3O3 J3OU4HJ3 J3Q4GQ4 O3HX4J3G HE2U4 UJ3J3O3 J3HHJ3GO3Q4J3O3 J3J3 J3O3Q4J3J3 HJ3J3O3 GT3J3J3J3O3J3X2 U4R4B3O3J3J3 J3J3B3GJ3J3 HJ3J3HJ3Q4O3J3J3J3J3 H HJ3O3X4O3O3HJ3B2J3 J3HGJ3O3 J3O3B2O3O3HJ3O3O3OJ3 HB3J3O3HJ3O3 Q4Q4Q4O3HHH HHHHH HJ3J3J3J3Q4J3J3HQ4HH J3J3O3 O3OJ3G GHGHJ3HO3GO3Q4GHHJ3J 3HHO3GB2O3O3O3O3 HHJ3J3J3 O3J3J3O3J3O3J3HOO3O3 J3J3O3GGO3X4O3J3HJ3J 3J3J3HO3O3J3J3B2O3 J3O3J3O3HH B2HJ3HO3HHJ3O3Q4H J3HB3 O3B3B3B3O3HO3HB3HJ3 HB3B3O3X4 J3O3O3H J3J3J3J3B3HHO3J3 HB3B3GB3J3O3J3HO3O3 B3J3UJ3B3GU HJ3O3O3O3O3O3J3J3B3H B3 HJ3GJ3J3 O3O3HB3HO3 J3 HG B3Q4J3GJ3J3 O3J3J3O3HGO3O3O3J3GJ 3J3 J3J3J3HJ3B3X4J3HB3J3 J3O3 HJ3O3HJ3B3J3J3J3HO3O 3B3J3O3O3O3HO3B3HO3H O3O3J3J3 J3J3HO3B3B3B3J3B3B3J 3O3O3O3HJ3HJ3HJ3O3J3 HO3B3HHHB3HJ3 O3O3J3O3J3 J3J3HHJ3J3HJ3 J3X4O3J3O3J3O3GJ3 J3 O3O3J3 J3J3Q4GGJ3J3

To the memory of my devoted wife dead and gone yet always with me I dedicate	A
	-
PAULINE	B
	-
The Flower of my heart nursed into bloom by her loving care and ofttimes watered with her tears	C
	-
H L G	D
	-
INTRODUCTION	E
	-
Fair morning sat upon the mountain top	F
Night skulking crept into the mountain chasm	G
The silent ships slept in the silent bay	H
One broad blue bent of ether domed the heavens	I
One broad blue distance lay the shadowy land	J
One broad blue vast of silence slept the sea	D
Now from the dewy groves the joyful birds	K
In carol concert sang their matin songs	L
Softly and sweetly full of prayer and praise	M
Then silver chiming solemn voiced bells	N
Rung out their music on the morning air	O
And Lisbon gathered to the festival	P
In chapel and cathedral Choral hymns	Q
And psalms of sea toned organs mingling rose	R
With sweetest incense floating up to heaven	E
Bearing the praises of the multitudes	S
And all was holy peace and holy happiness	T
A rumbling of deep thunders in the deep	U
The vast sea shuddered and the mountains groaned	V
Up heaved the solid earth the nether rocks	W
Burst and the sea the earth the echoing heavens	I
Thundered infernal ruin On their knees	X
The trembling multitudes received the shock	Y
And dumb with sudden terror bowed their heads	Z
To toppling spire and plunging wall and dome	A2
	-
So shook the mighty North the sudden roar	B2
Of Treason thundering on the April air	O
An earthquake shock that jarred the granite hills	C2
And westward rolled against th' eternal walls	D2
Rock built Titanic for a moment shook	E2
Uprose a giant and with iron hands	F2
Grasped his huge hammer claspt his belt of steel	G2
And o'er the Midgard monster mighty Thor	B2
Loomed for the combat	H2
	-
Peace O blessed Peace	I2
The war worn veterans hailed thee with a shout	J2
Of Alleluias homeward wound the trains	K2
And homeward marched the bayonet bristling columns	L2
To Hail Columbia from a thousand horns	M2
Marched to the jubilee of chiming bells	N
Marched to the joyful peals of cannon marched	N2
With blazing banners and victorious songs	L
Into the outstretched arms of love and home	A2
	-
But there be columns columns of the dead	O2
That slumber on an hundred battle fields	P2
No bugle blast shall waken till the trump	Q2
Of the Archangel O the loved and lost	R2
For them no jubilee of chiming bells	N
For them no cannon peal of victory	D
For them no outstretched arms of love and home	A2
God's peace be with them Heroes who went down	S2
Wearing their stars live in the nation's songs	L
And stories there be greater heroes still	T2
That molder in unnumbered nameless graves	U2
Erst bleached unburied on the fields of fame	V2
Won by their valor Who will sing of these	X
Sing of the patriot deeds on field and flood	W2
Of these the truer heroes all unsung	X2
Where sleeps the modest bard in Quaker gray	H
Who blew the pibroch ere the battle lowered	Y2
Then pitched his tent upon the balmy beach	Z2
Snow bound I ween among his native hills	C2
And where the master hand that swept the lyre	A3
Till wrinkled critics cried Excelsior	B3
Gathering the Aftermath in frosted fields	P2
Then timid Muse no longer shake thy wings	C3
For airy realms and fold again in fear	D3
A broken flight is better than no flight	E3
Be thine the task as best you may to sing	F3
The deeds of one who sleeps at Gettysburg	G3
Among the thousands in a common grave	H3
The story of his life I bid you tell	I3
As it was told one windy winter night	E3
To veterans gathered around the festal board	J3
Fighting old battles over where the field	K3
Ran red with wine and all the battle blare	O
Was merry laughter and the merry songs	L
Told when the songs were sung by him who heard	Y2
The pith of it from the dying soldier's lips	L3
His Captain tell it as the Captain told	M3
	-
	-
THE CAPTAIN'S STORY	D
	-
Well comrades let us fight one battle more	B2
Let the cock crow we'll guard the camp till morn	N3
And since the singers and the merry ones	I
Are hors de combat fill the cups again	O3
Nod if you must but listen to a tale	P3
Romantic but the warp thereof is truth	Q3
When the old Flag on Sumter's sea girt walls	D2
From its proud perch a fluttering ruin fell	I3
I swore an oath as big as Bunker Hill	T2
For I was younger then nor battle scarred	R3
And full of patriot faith and patriot fire	B3
	-
I raised a company of riflemen	O3
Marched to the front and proud of my command	J
Nor seeking higher led them till the day	H
Of triumph and the nation's jubilee	D
Among the first that answered to my call	S3
The hero came whose story you shall hear	T3
'Tis better I describe him He was young	X2
Near two and twenty neither short nor tall	S3
A slender student and his tapering hands	F2
Had better graced a maiden than a man	O3
Sad thoughtful face a wealth of raven hair	O
Brushed back in waves from forehead prominent	U3
A classic nose half Roman and half Greek	V3
Dark lustrous eyes beneath dark jutting brows	W3
Wearing a shade of sorrow yet so keen	O3
And in the storm of battle flashing fire	B3
	-
'Well boy ' I said 'I doubt if you will do	X3
I need stout men for picket line and march	Y3
Men that have bone and muscle men inured	Z3
To toil and hardships men in short my boy	A4
To march and fight and march and fight again '	-
A queer expression lit his earnest face	B4
Half frown half smile	C4
	-
'Well try me ' That was all	S3
He answered and I put him on the roll	D4
Paul Douglas private and he donned the blue	X3
Paul proved himself the best in my command	J
I found him first at reveille and first	E4
In all the varied duties of the day	H
His rough hewn comrades bred to boisterous ways	M
Jeered at the slender youth with maiden hands	F2
Nicknamed him 'Nel ' and for a month or more	B2
Kept up a fusillade of jokes and jeers	F4
Their jokes and jeers he heard but heeded not	G4
Or heeding did a kindly act for him	H4
That jeered him loudest so the hardy men	O3
Came to look up to Paul as one above	I4
The level of their rough and roistering ways	M
He never joined the jolly soldier sports	J4
But ever was the first at bugle call	S3
Mastered the drill and often drilled the men	O3
Fatigued with duty weary with the march	Y3
Under the blaze of the midsummer sun	O3
He murmured not alike in sun or rain	O3
His utmost duty eager to perform	K4
And ever ready always just the same	V2
Patient and earnest sad and silent Paul	S3
	-
The day of battle came that Sabbath day	H
Midsummer A Hot and blistering as the flames	L4
Of prairie fires wind driven the burning sun	O3
Blazed down upon us and the blinding dust	M4
Wheeled in dense clouds and covered all our ranks	N4
As we marched on to battle Then the roar	B2
Of batteries broke upon us Glad indeed	O4
That music to my soldiers and they cheered	P4
And cheered again and boasted all but Paul	S3
And shouted 'On to Richmond ' He alone	O3
Was silent but his eyes were full of fire	B3
	-
Then came the order 'Forward double quick '	-
And we rushed into battle formed our line	O3
Facing the foe the ambushed deadly foe	Q4
Hid in the thicket with the Union flag	R4
A cheat hung out before it luring us	T
Into a blazing hell The battle broke	S4
With wildest fury on us crashed and roared	J3
The rolling thunder of continuous fire	B3
We broke and rallied charged and broke again	O3
And rallied still broke counter charge and charged	T4
Loud yelling furious on the hidden foe	Q4
Met thrice our numbers and came flying back	U4
Disordered and disheartened Yet again	O3
I strove to rally my discouraged men	O3
But hell was fairly howling only Paul	S3
Eager but bleeding from a bullet wound	V4
In the left arm came bounding to my side	W4
But at that moment I was struck and fell	I3
Fell prostrate and a swooning sense of death	X4
Came on me and I saw and heard no more	B2
Of battle on that Sabbath	Y4
	-
I awoke	S4
Confined and jolted in an ambulance	Z4
Piled with the wounded driven recklessly	D
By one who chiefly cared to save himself
Dizzy and faint I raised my head my wound	V4
Was not as dangerous as it might have been	O3
A scalp wound on the temple there you see	D
He put his finger on the ugly scar
Half an inch deeper and some soldier friend
Among the veterans gathered here to night	E3
Perchance had told a briefer tale than mine	O3
	-
In front and rear I saw the reckless rout	J2
A broken army flying panic struck
Our proud brigades of undulating steel	G2
That marched at sunrise under blazoned flags
Singing the victory ere the cannon roared	J3
And eager for the honors of the day	H
Like bison Indian chased on windy plains	K2
Now broken and commingled fled the field	K3
Words of command were only wasted breath	X4
Colonels and brigadiers on foot and soiled
Were pushed and jostled by the hurrying hordes
Anon the cry of 'Cavalry ' arose	R
And army teams came dashing down the road
And plunged into the panic All the way	H
Was strewn with broken wagons battery guns	I
Tents muskets knapsacks and exhausted men	O3
My men were mingled with the lawless crowd
And in the swarm behind us there was Paul	S3
Silent and soldier like with knapsack on	O3
And rifle on his shoulder guarding me	D
And marching on behind the ambulance	Z4
So all that dark and dreadful night we marched	N2
Each man a captain captain of himself
Nor cared for orders on that wild retreat
To safety from disaster All that night	E3
Silent and soldier like my wounded Paul	S3
Marched close behind and kept his faithful watch
For ever and anon the jaded men	O3
Clamorous and threat'ning sought to clamber in	O3
Whom Paul drove off at point of bayonet
Wielding his musket with his good right arm
But when the night was waning to the morn	O3
I saw that he was weary and I made
A place for Paul and begged him to get in	O3
'No Captain no ' he answered 'I will walk
I'm making bone and muscle learning how
To march and fight and march and fight again '	-
That silenced me and we went rumbling on	O3
Till morning found us safe at Arlington	O3
	-
A month off duty and a faithful nurse
Worked wonders and my head was whole again	O3
Nay to be candid cracked a little yet
My nurse was Paul Albeit his left arm
Flesh wounded pained him sorely for a time
With filial care he dressed my battered head	O2
And wrote for me to anxious friends at home	A2
But never wrote a letter for himself
Thinking of this one day I spoke of it
A cloud came o'er his face	B4
	-
'My friends ' he said	O2
'Are here among my comrades in the camp '	-
That made a mystery and I questioned him	H4
He gave no answer or evasive ones	I
Seeming to shrink from question and to wrap
Himself within himself and live within	O3
	-
Again we joined our regiment and marched	N2
Over the hills and dales of Maryland
Along the famous river wound our way	H
On picket duty at the frequent fords
For weary laggard months were we employed
Guarding the broad Potomac while our foes	R
Stealthily watching for their human game	V2
Lurked like Apaches on the wooded shores
Bands of enemy's cavalry by night	E3
Along the line of river prowled and sought
To dash across and raid in Maryland
Three regiments guarded miles of river bank
And drilled alternately and one was ours
Off picket duty alike in fair or foul
With knapsacks on and bearing forty rounds
From morn till night we drilled battalion drill	T2
Often at double quick for weary hours
Bearing our burdens in the blazing sun	O3
Till strong men staggered from the ranks and fell	I3
Aye many a hardy man in those hard days	M
Was drilled and disciplined into his grave Arose	R
Murmurs of discontent and loud complaints
Fell on dull ears till patience was worn out	J2
And mutiny was hinted As for Paul	S3
I never heard a murmur from his lips	L3
Nor did he ask a reason for the things	C3
Unreasonable and hard required of him	H4
But straightway did his duty just as if
The nation's fate hung on it I pitied Paul	S3
Slender of form and delicate he bore	B2
The toils and duties of the hardiest	M4
Ill from exposure or fatigued and worn	O3
On picket hungered shivering in the rain	O3
Or sweltering in full dress with knapsack on	O3
Beneath the blaze of the mid summer sun	O3
He held his spirit always still the same	V2
Patient and earnest sad and silent Paul	S3
	-
We posted pickets two by two At night	E3
By turns each comrade slept and took the watch
Once in September in a drenching storm	K4
Three days and nights with neither tent nor fire	B3
Paul and a comrade held a picket post
The equinox raged madly Chilling winds
In angry gusts roared from the northern hills	C2
Dashing the dismal rain clouds into showers
That fell in torrents over all the land	J
In camp the soldiers crouched in dripping tents
Or shivered by the camp fires I was ill	T2
And gladly sought the shelter of a hut
Orders were strict and often hard to bear	O
Nor tents nor fire upon the picket posts
Cold rations and a canopy of storms
I pitied Paul and would have called him in	O3
But that I had no man to take his place	B4
Nor did I know he took upon himself
A double task His comrade on the post
Was ill and so he made a shelter for him	H4
With his own blankets and a bed within	O3
And took the watch of both upon himself
And on the third night near the dawn of day	H
In rubber cloak stole in upon the post
A pompous major on the nightly round	V4
Unchallenged All fatigued and drenched with rain	O3
Still on his post with rifle in his hand	J
Against a sheltering elm Paul stood and slept
Muttering of death the brutal major stormed
Then pitiless pricked the comrade with his sword	J3
And from his shelter drove him to the watch
Burning with fever There Paul interposed	J3
And said	J3
	-
'I ask no mercy at your hands	F2
I shall not whimper but my comrade here	T3
Is ill of fever I have stood his watch
Sir if a human heart beats in your breast	J3
Send him to camp or he will surely die '	-
	-
The pompous brute vaingloriously great	J3
In straps and buttons haughtily silenced Paul	S3
Hand bound and sent him guarded to the camp
And the poor comrade shivering stood the watch
Till dawn of day and I was made aware	O
Among the true were some vainglorious fools
Called by the fife and drum from native mire	A3
To lord and strut in shoulder straps and buttons	I
Scrubs born to brush the boots of gentlemen	O3
By sudden freak of fortune found themselves
Masters of better men and lorded it	J3
As only base and brutish natures can	O3
Braves on parade and cowards under fire	B3
	-
I interceded in my Paul's behalf
Else he had suffered graver punishment	J3
But as himself for mercy would not beg
'A stubborn boy ' our bluff old colonel said	J3
To extra duty for a month he went	J3
Unmurmuring storm or shine When the cold rain	O3
Poured down most pitiless Paul drenched and wan	O3
Guarded the baggage and the braying mules
When the hot sun at mid day blazed and burned	J3
Like the red flame on Mauna Loa's top	F
Withering the grass and parching earth and air	O
I often saw him knapsacked and full dressed	J3
Drilling the raw recruits at double quick
And yet he wore a patient countenance	Z4
And went about his duty earnestly	D
As if it were a pleasure to obey	H
	-
The month wore off and mad disaster came	V2
Gorging the blood of heroes at Ball's Bluff
'Twas there the brave unfaltering Baker fell	I3
Fighting despair between the jaws of death	X4
Quenched was the flame that fired a thousand hearts
Hushed was the voice that shook the senate walls	D2
And rang defiance like a bugle blast	J3
Broad o'er the rugged mountains to the north
Fell the incessant rain till like a sea	D
Him and the deadly ambush of the foe	Q4
The swollen river rolled and roared between	O3
Brave Baker saw the peril but not his
The soul to shrink or falter though he saw
His death warrant in his orders Forth he led	J3
His proud brigade across the roaring chasm	G
Firm and unfaltering into the chasm of death	X4
From morn till mid day in a single boat	J3
Unfit by companies the fearless band	J3
Passed over the raging river then advanced	J3
Upon the ambushed foe We heard the roll	D4
Of volleys in the forest and uprose
From out the wood a cloud of battle smoke	S4
Then came the yell of foemen charging down	O3
Rank upon rank and furious Hand to hand	J3
The little band of heroes flanked and pressed	J3
Fought thrice their numbers fearless Baker led	J3
In prodigies of valor front and flank
Volleyed the deadly rifles in the rear	D3
The rapid raging river rolled and roared	J3
Along the Maryland shore a mile below	Q4
Eager to cross and reinforce our friends
Ten thousand soldiers lay upon their arms
And we had boats to spare In all our ranks
There was not one who did not comprehend	J3
The peril and the instant need of aid	J3
Chafing we waited orders We could see
That Baker's men were fighting in retreat	J3
For ever nearer o'er the forest rolled	J3
The smoke of battle Orders came at last	J3
And up along the shore our regiment ran	O3
Eager to aid our comrades but too late	J3
Baker had fallen in the battle front	J3
He fought like Spartan and like Spartan fell	I3
Defiant clutching at the throat of fate	J3
Their leader lost confusion followed fast	J3
Wild panic and red slaughter swept the field	J3
Powerless to saves we saw the farther shore	B2
Covered with wounded and wild fugitives
Our own defeated and defenseless friends
Shattered and piled with wounded men the boat	J3
Pushed off to brave the river while the foe	Q4
Pressed on the charge with fury and refused	J3
Mercy to the vanquished Officers and men	O3
Cheating the savage foemen of their spoils
Their flags and arms into the gurgling depths
Despairing hurled and following plunged amain	O3
As numerous as the wild aquatic flocks
That float in autumn on Lake Nepigon	O3
The heads of swimmers moved upon the flood	J3
And still upon the shore a Spartan few	X3
Shoulder to shoulder back to back as one	O3
Amid the din and clang of clashing steel	G2
Surrounded held the swarming foes at bay	H
As in the pre historic centuries
Unnumbered ages ere the Pyramids
Whereof we read on pre diluvian bones
And fretted flints in excavated caves
When savage men abode in rocky dens
And wrought their weapons from the fiery flint	J3
And clothed their tawny thighs in lion skins
Before the mouth of some well guarded cave	H3
Where smoked the savory flesh of mammoth came	V2
The great cave bear unbidden to the feast	J3
Around the monster swarm the brawny men	O3
Wielding with sinewy arms and savage cries
Their flinty spears and tomahawks of stone	O3
Erect old bruin growls upon his foes
And swings with mighty power his ponderous paws
Woe unto him who feels the crushing blow	Q4
Till bleeding from an hundred wounds and blind	J3
With sudden plunge he falls at last and dies
Amid the shouts of his wild enemies
So fought the Spartan few till one by one	O3
They fell surrounded by a wall of foes
The river boiled beneath the storm of lead	J3
Weighed down with wounded comrades many sunk
But more went down with bullets in their heads
O it was pitiful The outstretched hands
Of men that erst had faced the battle storm	K4
Unshaken grasping now in wild despair	O
Wrung cries of pity from us Vain our fire	B3
The range too long it fell upon our friends
At which the foemen yelled their mad delight	J3
A storm of bullets poured upon the boat	J3
Mangling the mangled on her till at last	J3
Shattered and over laden suddenly
She made a lurch to leeward and went down	O3
	-
A shallow boat lay moored upon the shore	B2
Our gallant Colonel called for volunteers
In mercy's name to man it and push out	J3
But all could see the peril Stout the heart	J3
Would dare to face the raging flood and fire	B3
And to his call responded not a man	O3
Save Paul and one who perished at the helm
They went as if at bugle call to drill	T2
Their comrades said 'They never will return '	-
Stoutly and steadily Paul rowed the boat	J3
Athwart the turbid river's sullen tide	J3
And reached the wounded struggling in the flood	J3
Bravely they worked away and lifted in	O3
The helpless till the boat would hold no more	B2
Others they helped to holds upon the rails
Then pulled away the over laden craft	J3
We cheered them from the shore The maddened foe	Q4
With furious volleys answered hitting oft	J3
The little craft of mercy hands anon	O3
Let go their holds and sunk into the deep	U
And in that storm Paul's gallant comrade fell	I3
Trimming his craft with caution Paul could make
But little headway with a single oar	B2
Clutched in despair and madly wrenched away	H
By drowning souls the other Firm and cool
Paul stood unscathed then fell a sudden shower	B3
That broke his bended oar stem at the blade	J3
Down to the brink we crept and stretched our hands
And shouted 'Overboard Paul and save yourself '	-
	-
He stood a moment as if all were lost	J3
Then caught the rope and stretching forth his hand	J3
Waved to the foe and plunged into the flood	J3
Slowly he towed the clumsy craft and swam
Down drifting with the rapid rolling stream
Cheering him on adown the shore we ran	O3
The current lent its aid and bore him in	O3
Toward us and beyond the range at last	J3
Of foemen's fire he safely came to land	J3
Mooring his boat amid a storm of cheers
	-
Confined in hospital three days he lay	H
Fatigued and feverous but tender hands
Nursed and restored him Our old Colonel came	V2
And thanked him patting Paul paternally	H
And praised his daring 'My brave boy ' he said	J3
'Had I a regiment of such men by Jove	Q4
I'd hew a path to Richmond and to fame '	-
Paul made reply and in his smile and tone	O3
Mingled a touch of sarcasm	G
	-
'Thank you sir	B3
But let me add I fear the wary foe	Q4
Would nab your regiment napping on the field	J3
You have forgotten Colonel not so fast	J3
I am the man that slept upon his post '	-
Our bluff old Colonel laughed and turned away	H
Ten minutes later came his kind reply	H
A basketful of luxuries from his mess
	-
Paul marched and fought and marched and fought again	O3
Patient and earnest through the bootless toils
And fiery trials of that dread campaign	O3
Upon the Peninsula 'Twas fitly called	J3
'Campaign of Battles ' Aye it sorely pierced	J3
The scarred and bleeding nation and drew blood	J3
Deep from her vitals till she shook and reeled	J3
Like some huge giant staggering to his fall	H
Blinded with blood yet struggling with his soul	H
And stretching forth his ponderous brawny arms
Like Samson in the Temple to o'erwhelm	G
And crush his mocking enemies in his fall	H
	-
Ah Malvern you remember Malvern Hill	H
That night of dreadful butchery Round the top	F
Of the entrench d summit parked and aimed	J3
Blazed like Vesuvius when he bellows fire	B3
And molten lava into the midnight heavens
An hundred crashing cannon and the hill	H
Shook to the thunder of the mighty guns
As ocean trembles to the bursting throes
Of submarine volcanoes and the shells
From the embattled gun boats fiery fiends
Shrieked on the night and through the ether hissed	J3
Like hell's infernals Line supporting line	O3
From base to summit round the blazing hill	H
Our infantry was posted Crowned with fire	B3
And zoned by many a burning blazing belt	J3
From head to foot and belching sulphurous flames
The embattled hill appeared a raging fiend	J3
The Lucifer of hell let loose to reign	O3
Over a world wrapt in the final fires
	-
In solid columns massed our frenzied foes
Beat out their life against the blazing hill	H
Broke and re formed and madly charged again	O3
And thundered like the storm lashed furious sea
Beating in vain against the solid cliffs
Foremost in from our veteran regiment	J3
Breasted the brunt of battle but we bent	J3
Beneath the onsets as the red hot bar
Bends to the sledge until our furious foes
Mown as the withered prairie grass is mown	O3
By wild October fires fell back and left	J3
A field of bloody agony and death	X4
About the base and victory on the hill	H
	-
I lost a score of riflemen that night	J3
My first lieutenant his last battle over	B3
Lay cut in twain upon the battle line	O3
With lantern dim wide o'er the slaughter field	J3
I searched at midnight for my wounded men	O3
But chiefly searched for Paul An hour or more	B2
I sought among the groaning and the dead	J3
Stooping and to the dim light turning up
The ghastly faces till at last I found	J3
Him whom I sought and on the outer line	O3
Feet to the foe and silent face to heaven	O3
Death pale and bleeding from a ragged wound	J3
Pleading with feeble voice to let him be
And die upon the field we bore him thence
And tenderly his comrades carried him	G
Sheltered with blankets on the weary march	Y3
At dead of night in dismal storm begun	O3
We made a stand at Harrison's and there	O
With careful hands we laid him on a cot	J3
Now I had learned to prize the noble boy	A4
My heart was touched with pity Patiently
I watched o'er Paul and bathed his fevered brow
And pressed the cooling sponge upon his lips
And washed his wound and gave him nourishment	J3
'Twas all in vain the surgeon said I felt	J3
That I could save him and I kept my watch
A rib was crushed beneath it one could see
The throbbing vitals torn as we supposed	J3
But found unwounded In his feverish sleep	U
He often moaned and muttered mysteries
And dreaming spoke in low and tender tones
As if some loved one sat beside his cot	J3
I questioned him and sought the secret key
To solve his mystery but all in vain	O3
A month of careful nursing turned the scale	H
And he began to gain upon his wound	J3
Propt in his cot one evening as he sat	J3
And I sat by him thus I questioned him	G
'There is a mystery about your life	Q4
That I would gladly fathom Paul I think
You well may trust me and I fain would hear	T3
The story of your life right well I know	O3
There is a secret sorrow in your heart '	-
	-
He turned his face and fixed his lustrous eyes
Upon mine own inquiringly and held	J3
His gaze upon me till his vacant stare	O
Told me full well his thoughts had wandered back	U4
Into the depth of his own silent soul	H
Then he looked down and sadly smiled and said	J3
	-
'Captain I have no history not one page
My book of life is but a blotted blank
Let it be sealed I would not open it	J3
Even to one who saved a worthless life	Q4
Only to add a few more leaves in blank
To the blank volume All that I now am	G
I offer to my country If I live	Q4
And from this cot walk forth 'twill only be
To march and fight and march and fight again '	-
Until a surer aim shall bring me down	O3
Where care and kindness can no more avail	H
Under our country's flag a soldier's death	X4
I hope to die and leave no name behind	J3
My only wish is this for what I am	G
Or have been or have hoped to be is now
A blank misfortune I will say no more '	-
	-
I questioned Paul and pressed him further still	H
To tell his story but he only shook	E2
His head in silence sadly and lay back	U4
And closed his eyes and whispered 'All is blank '	-
That night he muttered often in his sleep	U
I could not catch the sense of what he said	J3
I caught a name that he repeated oft	J3
Pauline so softly whispered that I knew	O3
She was the blissful burden of his dreams
	-
Two moons had waxed and waned and Paul arose
Came to the camp and shared my tent and bed	J3
While in the hospital he helpless lay	H
To him unknown and as the choice of all	H
Came his promotion to the vacant rank
Of him who fell at Malvern But alas
Say what we would he would not take the place
To us who importuned him he replied	J3
'Comrades and friends I did not join your ranks
For honor or for profit All I am	G
A wreck perhaps of what I might have been	O3
I freely offer in our country's cause
And in her cause it is my wish to serve	Q4
A private soldier I aspire to naught	J3
But victory and there be better men	O3
Braver and hardier such should have the place '	-
	-
His comrades cheered but Paul methought was sad	J3
One evening as he sat upon his couch
Communing with himself as he was wont	J3
I stood before him looking in his face
I said 'Pauline her name is then Pauline '	-
All of a sudden up he rose amazed	J3
And looked upon me with such startled eyes
That I was pained and feared that I had done	O3
A wrong to him whom I had learned to love	Q4
Then he sat down upon his couch and groaned	J3
Pressing his hand upon his wound and said	J3
'Captain I pray you tell me truthfully
Wherefore you speak that name '	-
	-
I told him all	H
That I had heard him mutter in his dreams
He listened calmly to the close and said	J3
'My friend if you have any kind regard	J3
For me who suffer more than you may know	O3
I pray you utter not that name again '	-
And thereupon he turned and hid his face
	-
There was a mystery I might not fathom	G
There was a history I might not hear	T3
Nor could I further press that saddened heart	J3
To pour its secret sorrow in my ears
Thereafter Paul was tenant of my tent	J3
Sat at my mess and slept upon my couch
Save when his duty called him from my side	J3
And not a word escaped his lips or mine	O3
About his secret yet how oft I found	J3
My eyes upon him and my bridled tongue	X2
Prone to a question but that solemn face
Forbade me and he wore his mystery
	-
At that stern battle on Antietam's banks
Where gallant Hooker led the fierce attack	U4
Paul bore a glorious part Our starry flag	R4
Before a whirlwind of terrific fire	B3
Advancing proudly on the foe went down	O3
Grim death and pale faced panic seized the ranks
Paul caught the flag and waving it aloft	J3
Rallied our regiment He came out unscathed	J3
	-
At Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville he fought	J3
Grim in disaster bravest in defeat	J3
He leaped not into danger without cause
Nor shrunk he from it though a gulf of fire	B3
When duty bade him face it All his aim	G
To win the victory applause and praise
He almost hated grimly he endured	J3
The fulsome flattery of his comrades nerved	J3
By his calm courage up to manlier deeds
	-
I saw him angered once if one might call	H
His sullen silence anger as by night	J3
Across the Rappahannock from the field	J3
Where brave and gallant 'Stonewall' Jackson fell	H
With hopeless hearts and heavy steps we marched	J3
Such sullen wrath on other human face
I never saw in all those bloody years
One evening after as he read to me
The fulsome General Order of our Chief	Q4
Congratulating officers and men	O3
On their achievements in the late defeat	J3
His handsome face grew rigid as he read	J3
And as he closed down like a thunder clap
Upon the mess chest fell his clinch d fist	J3
'Fit pap for fools ' he said 'an Iron Duke
Had ground the Southern legions into dust	J3
Or by the gods the field of Chancellorsville	H
Had furnished graves for ninety thousand men ' B
	-
That dark disaster sickened many a soul	H
Stout hearts were sad and cowards cried for peace
The vulture perched hard by the eagle's crag
Loud cawed his fellows from afar to feast	J3
Ill omened bird his carrion cries were vain	O3
Again our veteran eagles plumed their wings
And forth he fled from Montezuma's shores
A dastard flight betraying unto death	X4
Him whom he dazzled with a bauble crown	O3
Just retribution followed swift and sure
Germania's eagles plucked him at Sedan	O3
A gloomy month wore off and then the news
That Lee emboldened by his late success
Had poured his legions upon Northern soil	H
Rung through the camps and thrilled the mighty heart	J3
Of the Grand Army Louder than the roar	B2
Of brazen cannon on the battle field	J3
Then rose and rolled our thunder rounds of cheers
	-
We saw the dawn of victory we should meet	J3
Our wary foe upon familiar soil	H
We cheered the news we cheered the marching orders
We cheered our brave commander till the tears
Ran down his cheeks Up from its sullen gloom	G
Leaped the Grand Army as if God had writ	J3
With fiery finger 'thwart the vault of heaven	O3
A solemn promise of swift victory
	-
We marched As rolls the deep resistless flood	J3
Of Mississippi when the rains of June	O3
Have swelled his thousand northern fountain lakes
Above their barriers rolls with restless roar	B2
Anon through rock built gorges and anon	O3
Down through the prairied valley to the sea
Gleaming and glittering in the summer sun	O3
By field and forest on his winding way	H
So stretched and rolled the mighty column forth
Winding among the hills and pouring out	J3
Along the vernal valleys so the sheen	O3
Of moving bayonets glittered in the sun	O3
And as we marched there rolled upon the air	O
Up from the vanguard corps a choral chant	J3
Feeble at first and far and far away	H
But gathering volume as it rolled along
And regiment after regiment joined the choir	B3
Until an hundred thousand voices swelled	J3
The surging chorus and the solid hills
Shook to the thunder of the mighty song
And ere it died away along the line	O3
The hill tops caught the chorus rolled away	H
From peak to peak the pealing thunder chant	J3
Clear as the chime of bells on Sabbath morn	O3
	-
'John Brown's body lies moldering in the grave	Q4
John Brown's body lies moldering in the grave	Q4
John Brown's body lies moldering in the grave	Q4
But his soul is marching on	O3
Glory Glory Halleluia	H
Glory Glory Halleluia	H
Glory Glory Halleluia	H
His soul is marching on '	-
	-
And far away	H
The mountains echoed and re echoed still	H
'Glory Glory Halleluia	H
Glory Glory Halleluia	H
Glory Glory Halleluia	H
His soul is marching on '	-
	-
Until the winds
Bore the retreating echoes southward far
And the dull distance murmured in our ears
	-
Fast by the field where gallant Baker fell	H
We crossed the famous river and advanced	J3
To Frederick There a transitory cloud	J3
Gloomed the Grand Army Hooker was relieved	J3
Fell from command at victory's open gate	J3
The dashing daring soul inspiring chief	Q4
The idol of his soldiers and they mourned	J3
He had his faults they were not faults of heart	J3
His gravest fiery valor Since that day	H
The self same fault or virtue crowned a chief	Q4
With laurel plucked on rugged Kenesaw
Envy it was that wrought the hero's fall	H
Envy with hydra heads and serpent tongues
Hissed on the wolfish clamors of the Press
O fickle Fortune how thy favors fall	H
Like rain upon the just and the unjust	J3
Throughout the army as the soldiers read	J3
The farewell order gloomy murmurs ran	O3
But our new chieftain cheered our drooping hearts
	-
That Meade would choose his battle ground we knew	O3
And if not his the gallant dash and dare	O
That on Antietam's bloody battle field	J3
Snatched victory from defeat our faith was firm	G
That he would fight to win and hold the reins
Firmly in hand nor sacrifice our lives
In wild assaults and fruitless daring deeds
	-
From Taneytown at mid day on the hills
Of Gettysburg we heard the cannon boom	G
Our gallant Hancock rode full speed away	H
We under Gibbon swiftly following him	G
At midnight camped on Cemetery Hill	H
Sharp the initial combat of the grand	J3
On coming battle and the sulphurous smoke
Hung in blue wreaths above the silent vale	H
Between two hostile armies mightier far
Than met upon the field of Marathon	O3
Or where the proud Carthago bowed to Rome	G
Hope of the North and Liberty the one	O3
Pride of the South the other On the hills
A rolling range of rugged broken hills
Stretching from Round Top northward bending off	Q4
And butting down upon a silver stream	G
In open field our veteran regiments lay	H
Facing our battle line and parallel	H
Beyond the golden valley to the west	J3
Lay Seminary Ridge a crest of hills
Covered with emerald groves and fields of gold	J3
Ripe for the harvest on this rolling range
As numerous as the swarming ocean fowl	H
That perch in squadrons on some barren isle	H
Far in the Arctic sea when summer's sun	O3
With slanting spears invades the icy realm	G
The Southern legions lay upon their arms
As countless as the winter evening stars
That glint and glow above the frosted fields
Twinkled and blazed upon that crest of hills
The camp fires of the foe Two mighty hosts
Ready and panoplied for deadliest war	B2
And eager for the combat where the prize
Of victory was empire for the foe	O3
An empire borne upon the bended backs
Of toiling slaves in millions but for us
An empire grounded on the rights of man	O3
Lay on their arms awaiting innocent morn	O3
To light the field for slaughter to begin	O3
	-
Silent above us spread the dusky heavens
Silent below us lay the smoky vale	H
Silent beyond the dreadful crest of hills
Anon the neigh of horse a sentry's call	H
Or rapid hoof beats of a flying steed	J3
Bearing an aid and orders broke the dread	J3
Portentous silence I was worn and slept	J3
	-
The call of bugles wakened me The dawn	O3
Was stealing softly o'er the shadowy land	J3
And morning grew apace Broad in the east	J3
Uprose above the crest of hazy hills
Like some broad shield by fabled giant borne	O3
The golden sun and flashed upon the field	J3
Ripe for the harvest stood the golden grain	O3
Nodding on gentle slopes and dewy hills
Ready for the harvest death's grim reapers stood	J3
Waiting the signal with impatient steel	H
And morning passed and mid day Here and there	O
The crack of rifles on the picket line	O3
Or boom of solitary cannon broke
The myriad voiced and dreadful monotone	O3
So fled the anxious hours until the hills
Sent forth their silent shadows to the east	J3
And then their batteries opened on our left	J3
Advanced into the valley All along
The rolling crest of Seminary Ridge
Rolled up the smoke of cannon Answered then	O3
The grim artillery on our chain of hills'
And heaven was hideous with the bellowing boom	G
The whiz of shot the infernal shrieks of shells
Down from the hills their charging columns came	G
A glittering mass of steel As when the snow	O3
Piled by an hundred winters on the peak
Of cloud robed Bernard thunders down the cliffs
Nor rocks nor forests stay the mighty mass
And men and flocks in terror fly the death	X4
So thundering fell the columns of the foe	O3
Crushing through Sickles' corps in front and flank
And roaring onward like a mighty wind	J3
They rushed for Little Round Top rugged hill	H
Key to our left and center all exposed	J3
Manned by a broken battery half unmanned	J3
But Hancock saw the peril On stalwart steed	J3
Foam flecked wide nostriled panting like a hound	J3
That stalwart soldier Spartan to the soles
Came dashing down where prone along the ridge
Upon the right our sheltered regiment lay	H
'By the left flank forward double quick ' We sprang
And dashed for Little Round Top formed our line	O3
Flanking the broken battery Up the slope
Like frightened sheep when howling wolves pursue	O3
Fled Sickles' men in panic hard behind	J3
On came the Rebel columns Hat in hand	J3
Waving and shouting to his eager corps	B2
Rode gallant Longstreet leading on the foe	O3
	-
Where yonder field wall bounds the trampled wheat	J3
By grove and meadow see among the trees
Their bayonets gleam advancing Line on line	O3
Column on column in the field beyond	J3
Their hurrying ranks crowd glittering on and on	O3
High at the head their flaunting colors fly	H
High o'er the roar their wild triumphant yell	H
Shrills like the scream of panthers
	-
	-
Hancock's voice
Rang down our lines above the cannons' roar	B2
'Advance and take those colors' C Adown the slope
Like Bengal tigers springing at the hounds
We sprang and met them at the border wall	H
Muzzle to muzzle steel to steel we met	J3
And fought like Romans and like Romans fell	H
Even as a cyclone growling thunder roars
Down through a dusky forest and its path
Is strown with broken and uprooted pines
Promiscuous piled in broad and broken swaths
So crashed our volleys through their serried ranks
Mowing great swaths of death yet on and on	O3
Closing the gaps and yelling like the fiends
That Dante heard along the gulf of hell	H
Still came our furious foes A cloud of smoke
Dense sulphurous stifling covered all our ranks
Our steady deadly rifles crackled still	H
And still their crashing volleys rolled and roared	J3
Our rifles blazed upon the blaze below	O3
The blaze below upon the blaze above	Q4
And in the blaze the buzz of myriad bees
Whose stings were deadlier than the Libyan asp
Five times our colors fell five times arose
Defiant flapping on the broken wall	H
	-
We hold the perilous breach on either hand	J3
Our foes out flank us leap the sheltering wall	H
And pour their deadly enfilading fire	B3
God shield our shattered ranks God help us
	-
Ho	O3
'Stars and Stripes' on the right Hurra Hurra	B3
The Green Mountain Boys to our aid Hurra Hurra	B3
Cannon roar down on the left Our batteries are there	B3
Hurling hot hell fire' See like sickled corn	O3
The close ranked foemen fall in toppling swaths
But still with hurried steps and steady steel	H
They close the gaps like madmen they press on	O3
With one wild yell they rush upon the wall	H
Lo from our lines a sheet of crackling fire	B3
Scorches their grimy faces back they reel	H
And tumble down and down a writhing mass
Of slaughter and defeat	J3
	-
Leaped on the wall	H
A thousand Blues and swung their caps in air	B3
Thundering their wild Hurra above the roar	B3
And crash of cannon victory was ours
Back to his crest of hills the baffled foe	O3
Reluctant turned and fled the storm of death	X4
	-
The smoke of battle floated from the field	J3
And lo the woodside piled with slaughter heaps
And lo the meadow dotted with the slain	O3
And lo the ranks of dead and dying men	O3
That fighting fell behind the broken wall	H
	-
Only a handful of my men remained	J3
The rest lay dead or wounded on the field	J3
Nor skulked their captain but by grace was spared	J3
Behold the miracle This Bible holds
Embedded in its leaves the Rebel lead	J3
Aimed at my heart But here a scratch and there	B3
Not worth the mention where so many fell	H
Paul foremost ever in the deadly hail	H
As if protected by a shield unseen	O3
Escaped unscathed	J3
	-
We camped upon the hill	H
Night hovered o'er us on her dusky wings
Then all along our lines upon the hills
Blazed up the evening camp fires Facing us
Beyond the smoke robed valley sparkled up
A chain of fires on Seminary Ridge
A hum of mingled voices filled the air	B3
As when upon the vast hoarse moaning sea
And all along the rock built somber shore	B3
Murmurs the menace of the coming storm	G
The muttering of the tempest from afar	B3
The plash and seethe of surf upon the sand	J3
The roll of distant thunder in the heavens
Unite and blend in one prevailing voice
So rose the mingled murmurs of our camps
So rose the groans and moans of wounded men	O3
Along the slope and valley and so rolled	J3
From yonder frowning parallel of hills
The muttered menace of our baffled foes
And so from camp to camp and hill to hill	H
Rolled the deep mutter and the dreadful moan	O3
Of an hundred thousand voices blent in one	O3
	-
That night a multitude of friends and foes
Slept soundly but they slept to wake no more	B3
But few indeed among the living slept	J3
We lay upon our arms and courted sleep	U
With open eyes and ears the fears and hopes
That centered in the half fought battle held	J3
The balm of slumber from our weary limbs
Anon the rattle of the random fire	B3
Broke on our drowsy ears and startled us
As one is startled by some horrid dream	G
Whereat old veterans muttered in their sleep	U
	-
Midnight had passed and I lay wakeful still	H
When Paul arose and sat upon the sward	J3
He said 'I cannot sleep unbidden thoughts
That will not down crowd on my restless brain	O3
Captain I know not how but still I know	O3
That I shall see but one more sunrise Morn	O3
Will bring the clash of arms to morrow's sun	O3
Will look upon unnumbered ghastly heaps
And gory ranks of dead and dying men	O3
And ere it sink beyond the western hills
Up from this field will roll a mighty shout	J3
Victorious echoed over all the land	J3
Proclaiming joy to freemen everywhere	B3
And I shall fall I cannot tell you how
I know it but I feel it in my soul	H
I pray that death may spare me till I hear	B3
Our shout of Victory rolling o'er these hills
Then will I lay me down and die in peace '	-
	-
I lightly said 'Sheer superstition Paul	H
I'll wager a month's pay you'll live to fight	J3
A dozen battles yet They ill become	G
A gallant soldier on the battle field	J3
Such grandam superstitions You have fought	J3
Ever like a hero do you falter now '	-
	-
'Captain ' he said 'I shall not falter now
But gladlier will I hail the rising sun	O3
Death has no terror for a heart like mine	O3
Say what you may and call it what you will	H
I know that I shall fall to rise no more	B3
Before the sunset of the coming day	H
If this be superstition still I know	O3
If this be fear it will not hold me back '	-
I answered	J3
	-
'Friend I hope this prophecy
Will prove you a false prophet but my Paul	H
Have you no farewells for your friends at home	G
No message for a nearer dearer one '	-
	-
'None there is none I knew in other days
Knows where or what I am So let it be
If there be those not many who may care	B3
For one who cares so little for himself	Q4
Surely my soldier name in the gazette	J3
Among the killed will bring no pang to them	G
And then he laid himself upon the sward	J3
Perhaps he slept I know not for fatigue
O'ercame me and I slept	J3
	-
The picket guns
At random firing wakened me The morn	O3
Came stealing softly o'er the somber hills
Dark clouds of smoke hung hovering o'er the field	J3
Blood red as risen from a sea of blood	J3
The tardy sun as if in dread arose
And hid his face in the uprising smoke
As when the pale moon envious of the glow	O3
And gleam and glory of the god of day	H
Creeps in by stealth between the earth and him	G
Eclipsing all his glory and the green	O3
Of hills and dales is changed to yellowish dun	O3
So fell the strange and lurid light of morn	O3
And as I gazed I heard the hunger cries
Of vultures circling on their dusky wings
Above the smoke hid valley then they plunged	J3
To gorge themselves upon the slaughter heaps
As at the Buddhist temples in Siam	G
Whereto the hideous vultures flock to feast	J3
With famished dogs upon the pauper dead	J3
	-
The day wore on Two mighty armies stood	J3
Defiant watching dreading to assault	J3
Each hoping that the other would assault	J3
And madly dash against its glittering steel	H
As in the jungles of the Chambez
Glaring defiance with their fiery eyes
Two tawny lions rival monarchs meet	J3
And fright the forest with their horrid roar	B3
But ere they close in bloody combat crouch
And wait and watch for vantage in attack
So on their bannered hills the opposing hosts
Eager to grapple in the tug of death	X4
Waited and watched for vantage in the fight	J3
Noon came The fire of pickets died away	H
All eyes were turned to Seminary Ridge
For lo our sullen foemen park on park
Had massed their grim artillery on our corps	B3
Hoarse voices sunk to whispers or were hushed	J3
The rugged hills stood listening in awe
So dread the ominous silence that I heard	J3
The hearts of soldiers throbbing along the line	O3
	-
Up from yon battery curled a cloud of smoke
Shrieked o'er our heads a solitary shell	H
Then instantly in horrid concert roared	J3
Two hundred cannon on the Rebel hills
Hurling their hissing thunderbolts and then	O3
An hundred bellowing cannon from our lines
Thundered their iron answer Horrible	H
Rolled in the heavens the infernal thunders rolled	J3
From hill to hill the reverberating roar	B3
As if the earth were bursting with the throes
Of some vast pent volcano rocked and reeled	J3
As in an earthquake shock the solid hills
Anon huge fragments of the hillside rocks
And limbs and splinters of shot shattered trees
Danced in the smoke like demons hissed and howled	J3
The crashing shell storm bursting over us
Prone on the earth awaiting the grand charge
To which we knew the heavy cannonade	J3
Was but a prelude for two hours we lay	H
Two hours that tried the very souls of men	O3
And many a brave man never rose again	O3
Then ceased our guns to swell the infernal roar	B3
The roll and crash of cannon in our front	J3
Lulled and we heard the foeman's bugle calls
Then from the slopes of Seminary Ridge
Poured down the storming columns of the foe	O3
As when the rain clouds from the rim of heaven	O3
Are gathered by the four contending winds
And madly whirled until they meet and clash
Above the hills and burst down pours a sea
And plunges roaring down through gorge and glen	O3
So poured the surging columns of our foes
Adown the slopes and spread along the vale	H
In glittering ranks of battle line on line	O3
Mile long Above the roar of cannon rose
In one wild yell the Rebel battle cry	B3
Flash in the sun their serried ranks of steel	H
Before them swarm a cloud of skirmishers
That eager host the gallant Pickett leads
He right and left his fiery charger wheels
Steadies the lines with clarion voice anon	O3
His outstretched saber gleaming points the way	H
As mid the myriad twinkling stars of heaven	O3
Flashes the blazing comet and a column	O3
Of fiery fury follows it so flashed	J3
The dauntless chief so followed his wild host	J3
	-
We waited grim and silent till they crossed	J3
The center and began the dread ascent	J3
Then brazen bugles rang the clarion call	H
Arose as one twice twenty thousand men	O3
And all our hillsides blazed with crackling fire	B3
With sudden crash and simultaneous roar	B3
An hundred cannon opened instantly
And all the vast hills shuddered under us
Yelling their mad defiance to our fire	B3
Still on and upward came our daring foes
As when upon the wooded mountain side	J3
The unchained Loki D riots and the winds
Of an autumnal tempest lash the flames
Whirling the burning fragments through the air	B3
Huge blazing limbs and tops of blasted pines
Mowing wide swaths with circling scythes of fire	B3
So fell our fire upon the advancing host	J3
And lashed their ranks and mowed them into heaps
Cleaving broad avenues of death Still on	O3
And up they come undaunted closing up
The ghastly gaps and firing as they come	O3
As if protected by the hand of heaven	O3
Rides at their head their gallant leader still	H
The tempest drowns his voice his naming sword	J3
Gleams in the flash of rifles One wild yell Like
the mad hunger howl of famished wolves
Midwinter on the flying cabris' E trail	H
Swelled by ten thousand hideous voices shrills
And through the battle smoke the bravest burst	J3
Flutters their tattered banner on our wall	H
Thunders their shout of victory Appalled	J3
Our serried ranks are broken but in vain	O3
On either hand our cannon enfilade	J3
Crushing great gaps along the stalwart lines
In front our deadly rifles volley still	H
Mowing the toppling swaths of daring men	O3
Behold they falter Ho they break they fly	B3
With one wild cheer that shakes the solid hills
Spring to the charge our eager infantry
Headlong we press them down the bloody slope
Headlong they fall before our leveled steel	H
And break in wild disorder cast away	H
Their arms and fly in panic All the vale	H
Is spread with slaughter and wild fugitives
Wide o'er the field the scattered foemen fly	B3
Dread havoc and mad terror swift pursue
Till battle is but slaughter Thousands fall	H
Thousands surrender and the Southern flag
Is trailed upon the field	J3
	-
The day was ours
And well we knew the worth of victory
Loud rolled the rounds of cheers from corps to corps
Comrades embraced each other iron men	O3
Shed tears of joy like women men profane	O3
Fell on their knees and thanked Almighty God	J3
Then 'Hail Columbia' rang the brazen horns
And all the hill tops shouted unto heaven	O3
The welkin shouted to the shouting hills And	J3
heavens and hill tops shouted 'Victory '	-
	-
Night with her pall had wrapped the bloody field	J3
The little remnants of our regiment	J3
Were gathered and encamped upon the hill	H
Paul was not with them and they could not tell	H
Aught of him I had seen him in the fight	J3
Bravest of all the brave I saw him last	J3
When first the foremost foemen reached our wall	H
Thrusting them off with bloody bayonet	J3
And shouting to his comrades 'Steady men '	-
Sadly I wandered back where we had met	J3
The onset of the foe The rounds of cheers
Repeated oft still swept from corps to corps
And as I passed along the line I saw
Our dying comrades raise their weary heads
And cheer with feeble voices Even in death	X4
The cry of victory warmed their hearts again	O3
Paul lay upon the ground where he had fought	J3
Fast by the flag that floated on the line	O3
He slept or seemed to sleep but on his brow
Sat such a deadly pallor that I feared	J3
My Paul would never march and fight again	O3
I raised his head he woke as from a dream	G
I said 'Be quiet you are badly hurt	J3
I'll call a surgeon we will dress your wound '	-
He gravely said	J3
	-
'Tis vain for I have done	O3
With camp and march and battle Ere the dawn	O3
Shall I be mustered out of your command	J3
And mustered into the Grand Host of heaven '	-
	-
I sought a surgeon on the field and found	J3
With me he came and opened the bloody blouse
Felt the dull pulse and sagely shook his head	J3
A musket ball had done its deadly work
There was no hope he said the man might live	Q4
A day perchance but had no need of him	G
I called his comrades and we carried him	G
Stretched on his blankets gently to our camp
And laid him by the camp fire As the light	J3
Fell on Paul's face he took my hand and said	J3

Hanford Lennox Gordon

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