The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1861-05-29
Poetry.

Xoetty. ~
what the Poets have said.
The purest, loftiest sentiments Of patriotism
have been breathed BY the poets. The spirit,
Of devotion to country, which now swells up in
every true heart, has ere now gushed forth in
song. And, now, when the American hear,
can hardly find words in which to express the
high resolve, the holy ardor Of love 70 ou'
country, it may not be Improbable to turn over
for an hour, the pages Of the poets, and find
there embalmed the very thoughts struggling
within us for utteratics. a
Mrs. Hesmans thus speaks: a
Who dies 10 vain ....
Upon his eountry's wsr-6elds snd within
The shadow Of her altarsi Feeble heart ~
tell the that the voice Of patriot bloed,
Thus pour'd for faith and freedom, hath . tone
which from the night sr .gss, nom the gulf
or death shall burst and make It's high appeal
Sound unto earth and heaveoI
Thomas Gray, Jr, ih these lines. describes
the feeling Of the patriot soldier on the eve o.
battle:
No fearing. no doubling, thv soldier .hall know,
when here stands his country, and yonder her fos
One look at the bright sun, one prayer to the sky,
One glance where banner foata glorious on high
Then on, A. the yovng lion bounds on his prey;
Let the sword lash on high ding the seabbard away
Roll on, like he thunderbolt over tho p'sini
We come back in glory, or como not again. ....
And these words of Maturin can be spoken
by those who aid in crushing out the rattle.
snake rebellion Of 1861: ........-
In that dread hour my country's guard stood,
From the states vitas tore tho eoi'od serpent,
First hung with writhihg up to pdblic seorn,
Then flung him forth to ruin.
Macaulcy, in his "Lays Of Ancient Rome, .
puts these words into the mouth of brave
Hora.ius:
Then ou. spake brave uoratia.,
The captain OF the gate, .-...
To every mnn upon this earth
Death someth soon or late;
Aud how cal. man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For ashes Of his fathers . ..
Aud the temples OF his god'
Who can help thinking in view Of the hasty
preparation now going on for war, Of these
words of Shakespeare ...
Tell me, ho that knows.
why are such dsi,y cast Of braseA CANNON,
Aud foreign mart Of implements Of waff
Why such impress Of ship wrishts, whose 'oes task
Does not divide the sunday from the wesks
What might be toward, that thi. swesty haste
Doth make the night jcint laboursr With the day;
Who lit that can inform usei
The reply of Hotspur to his Kate. has in
this uprising, in some form, been spoken by
many patriot to his wife or lover:
care not for thoe, Kate this Il NO world
To play with mammeta, and to tilt with lips:
We must have bloody noses, and erackd crowns,
And pass then current too.--God's me, my horse!
Again, would you fitIy speak of treason,
quote the immortal Bard thus:
Treason and murder kept together,
And two yoke.deviIs sworn to sither's purpose:
or Addison
Il there not some chosen curse,
Some hidden thunder In the stores OF hssv'n
Red With uncommon wrath. to blast tho man,
Who owes his greatness to his country ruin
We are told that the arch.traitor, Jeif
Davis, is sickly, haggard looking. bringing
the following words of Shirley vividly to
mind:
Dy hsay'n there's treason in his s,pso:!
That cLe.rlsas gloom those that pore ON earth
That bended body, aud those folded arm',
Are indications VI . tortur'd mind,
And blaxon equal viiliauy aud shane.
aud these Of Martyr: .......-. a...
The man Who rises his ooun.ry's ruin,
Live. il crowd Of foes, himsslf the chief:
In vain his power, In vsin his pomp and pleasure!
Ills guilty thoughts, those tyrants Of the soul,
steal in unseen, aud stab him in his triumph.
Moore says: -# :.
Oh. for tongue to eurse tho .lavs,
Whose treason like deadly blight,
Comes DER the councils Of the brasc,
Aud blasts them In their hour OF might
We cannot turn away from the poets without
giving verse from Whittier's "Angels OF
Bucua Vista.' In that terrible fight, the Mex.
ican women weat out upon the field after the
storm Of battle had swept BY, and ministered 70
The wants of the wounded. The dying Mexi.
cans and Americans alike, were cared for
One of these angels Of the battlefield had
found her own husband wounded and dying,
aud had composed his limbs and closed bis
eyes, and then left his corpse. to comfort the
dying around him. She next turns to young
American officer, who lay near BY. Few can
read the poets vivid portsaiture Of the scene.
in which the humanity Of . womans heart
CLEANS forth on tho CORY battlefield without
shedding tears. $3.50
Now for the versa:
Clsss bss,ds her nAintly moa7ing his and young >
ssldisr lay, asa
Torn With shot and pierced with snees bleeding slew
bis life away,
Aul a teadseiy bsabss hin the lone ximsus knslt,
She saw the Nesthssa eagle sAining his piatsl bs.
With stidsd cry Of hosros straight she turned away
her hsad,
Aud with .ad and bitter feeling oek'd she back upon
her dead; t
But che heard the Youths Low noaslng and his strsg
Cling breath Il pain,
And she raised the cooling water 70 his parehing lips
again.
whispers Low the dying soldier pressed her haad and
lAintly smisd,
Was that plying face his nothsrs, did she watch BE-
side her childt
All his e,rangsr words with meaning her vomsas
heart surplisd;
be and died.
~ bitter eusrs upon them fair boy who led thee forth,
vssm some gentle saA ID mother weeping leasly in
.,