Delaware State journal and statesman., 1866-05-11
THE WIDOWS SON.
POEM,
ny vnANcIs pE nAEs JANvIER.


"The only son OF his mother, and she was
A widow. '-LuKE VII, l2.
In the green valley of the Cumberland,
And where the rugged mountain range
divides
loly portal, walled on either hand,
Through which the silver Susquehanna
glides;
Half hidden, in the shadow of the wood,
An unpretending, mOss-grown cottage stood,
An humble place-yet full of calm content;
The home of two, whose loving hearts
were one
old ngc and youth, in pure affection, blent;
A widowed mother, and an only son.
80 the green ivy clasps the tOttering wall,
Each holding each, till both, together, fall
sho lived for him-and still, at night and
morn,
Committed him, in secret, to her God;
His life was her's-his aim TO pluck each
thorn
Which lay before her, in the patti they
trOd;
Hs highest hope, her sorrows to beguile;
And his supreme reward, his mothers smile.
Thus undsturbed, the peaceful days went
by,
And ali around gave promise of repose;
W Htn hlOMl1t Ill lho huNhJ bohhhNAh ohJt
An angry cloud, with gathering blackness,
The elements, in strange commotion, stir
red
And muttering thunders in the air were
heard
lteame apace-the storm OF civil war
And the bright heavens with darkness
were o'ercast;
From hill to hill the bale.flres blazed aiar,
And, through the wales, shrieked the shrill
bugle blast
While, IRON the north, rushed Freedoms 3
loyal sons
In prompt response TO Sumter's signal gunsl
No patriot paused-from every dwelling,
then,
Rose the stern chorus of the battle.cry;
The dusty highway teemed with armed men,
Resolved TO cOnquer--and content to diel
And with that dauntless host was numbered
one
Known from his childhood as "The Widow 3
Son"
Dark was the day, when sad, but selfposs-
essed,
He left his mother at the cottage door;
In tears, she pressed him TO her aching
breast
With trembling lips, she blessed him DER
and DER
Then sweetly smiling, to disguise her woe,
Blessed him again-and calmly bade him go.
She gazed upon his form, as through the
Meier looking back, he hurriedly with
drew;
And lingering, at the open doorway stood,
Long after he had vanished from her view,
And still, with feeble step, she came each
day,
To watch the path by which he passed
away.
But even then, she wished not his return,
For she had yielded him at Duty's shrine
And though the summons had seemed al
most stern,
She had not laltered, and did not repne
She deemed him now still dearer than before
And, yet, she loved her suffering country
more.
The months wore on--tho changing season.
passed.
And, faithful TO his trust he wearied not
But through the burning heat and freezing
blast,
Met, with cheerful zeal. his toilsom,
lot
patriot soldier, whose heroic heart.
Oi ireedom's mighty bulwark, formed part
Twas in the autumn, and the sinking sun
Tipped the green hill-tops with a colder
glow;
Where the bright waves of the Antietan
run,
Through blooming banks, to fertile field
below:
Where nature has bestowed, with lavisl
hand
Her richest gifts to gladden. Maryland.
The sky was cloudless, and the air serene
~ ihe distance faded in the closing light
Nmen iiOm above, to sanctiiy the scene,
lhe sanity stars came beaming througl
the night
but in the darkness, on the earth beneath
S'alked bloody War, and by his side wa
DEATH
F9r, IN that valley stretching far away,
u Beyond the margin of the crystal flood,
"Goelllons 8 reCreant host, in fierce array,
Ne, Led by the miniOns of foul treason, stood
NM, me to the verge of the opposing bank,
The patriot army rested rank on rank.
Inc morning dawned-but scarcely dawned
before
II Ihe din OF battle on the silence broke;
"ufied, IN the blazing canon's deafenin
roar,
Down the dim vale, through clouds {
IN, sulphurous smoke
men, swept the patriot squadrons throug
AND deadly conflict ragged on every side.
Inc h9ming lines fought sterniy-hand
hand:
shell,
me ~, rattling musket, and the clashlng brant
the Changing trumpet, and the piercin
yell
Wlnle frantic steeds rushed riderless away
anu crushed the dead and dying as they lay
treat was the slaughter-o'er the crimso
field,
From heaps of carnage, rose expirin
grOans-
When ne suddenly above the combat, pealed
nc ne trump of victory, in exultant tones.
As reasons banner, with It's bloody bar
'el IN The dust, before the stripes and star
''ts strife was ended, and the battle won;
ihe troubled air grew tranquil as befor
Niu, T, IN the effulgence of the setting sun,
me verdant hills were beautified on
more:
nu' thousands who hailed that openiI
morn,
were ghastly, broken, bleeding, and iorlor
was on that highland, in a shatter
,ri.1 9rn in the fight, and open to the sky;
""h Iangled frame, and faint from loss
blood,