The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1851-08-08
DEATH OF NAJrRA.
AN INCIDENT OF MONTEREY.

ctA, OF Mexico. II Was translated int,
English by Henry Kirby Bennor, U, S
A. We know of nothing more spiritet
ia any language. Put il in your nole
book. II is as good for low spirils as 4
fife and drum:-
1t was morn on the Mother Of mountains, ( y
While, curling like incense, away,
Rose the mlsts from the Eden-like valley,
In which lay our loved Monterey
In the distance was green San Domingo,
Where, wearied, in silent repose,
Slept the ranks Of the resolute Saxon,
The files of our conquering foes.
On .he edge of the hills, in our eyry,
Like statues, we silently stood a
Our cavalry guarding the mountain,
Our infantry watching the wood. eC
We gazed on our beautiful city,
We thought OF the stain on our nrme,
And we swore that the sun of our country
Should never descend on our shame. fp
Like knight, in his saddle, Najira.(t)
Sat, watching the foemen with smiles,
AS they mounted the rugged sierra,
And marched through its craggy de6les;
And he laughed as he turned to the vultures,
That circled and SCARED overhead,
Coming down from their nest in the mountains
To fatten and gorge on the dead.
On, like wolves, came the reckless invader:
We heard the huzzas oftheir men,
Now low, in the depth OF the forest, 4-
Now loud, when they formed in the glen
And we saw the bright CLEAN of their muskets
Flash and fade through the emefald trees,
And the crimson and white Of their banner
AS it rippled and flowed on the breeze.
Arising erect in his stirrups,
Najira looked round on his band,
And his eye flashed as bright and keenly
AS the sword that he held in his hand:
"For your altars--your counIy--her honor!
Your daughters, your sires and your wives,
Be warriors-be heroes,n he shouted.
"And conquer, or yield up your lives"
On they came; and we looked a: our leader,
Who paused ere he gave US the word;
His dark eye was pregnant with passion,
His hand clutched the hilt OF his sword;
But moment, and down, like the whirlwind,
Steed and man, in the pride of our might
We plunged on the ruthless invader,
And swan in th hell Of the fight!
Our Eoble, chvalric Najira,
Over rock, through defilerand ravine,
Wherever the danger was darkest,
Wherever foeman was seen,
Led the charge, as, in old, Alvarado
And Cortez, again and again,
Led the Spaniard to conquest and.glory
Over many Mexican plain.
And his men. full Of ardor, with vivas,
Pursued where the enemy fled
The hoofs of their horses dlsfguring,
The faces and forms Of the dead;
And ever the shout of Najira
Was heard in the din of the fray,
As he swooped, like his own native eagle,
With fire flashing eye on his prey.
Full Of terror, the traitorous Texan, /
That stain on tile Mexican name,
Gave way in dismay, as Malta
Plunged on in his passion for fame
As, pursuing, he wheeled round the mountain
And swept like a storm through the gorge
From an ambus cade, deep in the forest,
Their guns flashed like sparks from forge.
Their cannon swept o'er us and through Us:
Their rifles rlined death on the field:
We have sworn by the mother of Jesus
To conquer, but never to yield:
Down, down, where he fought, fell each hero
Horse and man ,one by one,where he stood ;
And the sands of the rugged sierra
Were crimsoned with Mexican blood.
Like lion at bay rode Najira:
Not one of that troop that he led
But was stretched on the side Of the moun:ain
Thick strewn with the dying and dead.
His coat and his saddle were bloody;
He reeled in his seat as he strove
TO strike once again for his country,
Once % ain for the land Of his love.
Alone, all alone did he battle,
Disdaining to yield or to fly;
lie had failed, as he promised, to conquer,
And nothing was left but to- die!
"Surrender! surrehder!,, his foeman,
Full of wonder, entreatingly CRED.
AS, defying, he gallopped his charger
Along the sierra's steep side.
Down, down, at each stroke an invader
Sunk wounded, and gasping, and dead,
As he palloped from foeman 10 foeman,
His sword, waved in scorn, overhead.
But the bullet at last rent bis bosom,
And down, from the cliff to the plain,
Rolled the form of the dying Najira,
The bravest and bes! of the slain.
Weep, weep, for the gallant Najira!
Fo. never will Mexico own
So heroic, so gallant soldier,
So fearless, SO fautless son!
On his tomb lay your chaplets Of laurel,
n, And, Maidens Of Mexico, pray
For the soul Of the knightly Najira- ~
Pray, Maidens Of Mexico, pray!
s.#t s4H NOTES.
aThe Sierra Madre.
Lieutenant Colonel Don Juan NaIira, pronounce
Nnh.heerah led the Guanjuato regiment in Its attac
o, General Worh's division, on the morning of tn
qIst September He was as brave as the Cbevale
Bayard he knight "san peur. ct sans reproche" p
lev IN his War with Mexico" says ofhm--'In spit
~ his wounds he refused to surrender, and struggle
on. until atIength he fell from his horse, and rolled
dend. down the side of the mountain.
The traltorous Texan" an epitbet which
purely Mexican as the ballad is supposed to be tn
s,rod,ct Of Mexican bard. The retreat ofthe Texal
repimcnt however, is historical facts but the Mexi
can loncers paid dearly for their shortlived triumph
not man of them survived eve quote Rplay)
AT a late horse race IN England thirty
eight horses were entered. One man