The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1883-10-31
Select eMisfsHany.
THE LONG DRAMA--FRoM '7e TO 's3.



by WALLACE BRUCE.
with banners bright with roll of drums,
with pride and pomp and civil state,
Nation. born of courage, comes
The closing act to celebrate.
We've traced the drama page by page
From Lexington to Yorktown field;
The curtain drops upon the stage.
The century's book to-day is sealed.
A cycle grand-with wonders fraught
That triumph over time and space
In woven steel Its dreams arc wrought,
The nations whisper face to face.
But in the proud and onward march
We halt an hour for dress parade,
Remembering that fair freedoms arch
Springs from the base our fathers laid.
With cheeks aglow with patriot Are
They pass in long review again,
We grasp the hand OF noble sire
Who made two words Of " noblemen."
In silence now the tattered band
Heroes in homespun, worn and gray
Around the old headquarters stand,
As in that dark uncertain day.
That low rooted dwelling shelters still
The phantom tenants OF the past;
The garnet beam. each oaken sill,
Treasures and holds their memories fast.
Ay, humble walls the manger-birth
To emphasize this truth was given;
The noblest deeds are nearest earth,
ma. IIaex
We hear the anthem once again.
"No king but God w-to guide our way,
Like that OF old" Good will to men -
Unto the shrine where freedom lay.
One window looking toward the east
Seven doors wide-open every side
That room revered proclaims at least
An invitation free and wide.
Wayne, Putnam, Knox and Heath are there,
steuben. proud Prussia's honored son,
Brave Lafayette from France the fair,
And, chief of all, our Washington.
Serene and calm in perils hour,
An honest man without Pretence,
He stands supreme 10 teach the power
And brilliancy Of common sense.
Alike disdaining fraud and art,
He blended love with stern command;
He bore his country in his heart,
He held his army by the hand.
Hush carping critic, read Alright
The record of his fair renown-
A leader by diviner right
Than he who wore the British crown.
With silver locks and eyes grown dim,
As vctory's sun proclaimed the morn,
He pushed aside the diadem
with stern rebuke and patriot scorn.
He quells the half-paid mutineers,
And binds them closer to the cause;
His presence turns their wrath to tears,
Their muttered threats to loud applause.
The great Republic had its birth
That hour beneath the army's wing,
Whose leader taught by native worth
The man ia grander than the king.
The stars on that bright azure field,
Which proudly wave DER land and sea,
Were fifty taken from his shield
To be our common heraldry.
We need no trappings worn and old,
No courtly lineage to invoke,
No tinseed plate, but solid gold,
No thin veneer, but heart Of oak.
No aping after foreign ways
Becomes a son of noble sire;
Columbia wins the sweetest praise
When clad in simple, plain attire.
In science, poesy and art
We ask the best the soul can give;
We feel the throb of Britain's heart,
And will while Burns and Shakespeare live.
But oh the Nation Is too great
To borrow emptiness and pride;
The queenly Hudson wears in state
Her robes with native pigments dyed.
October lifts with colors bright
Its mountain canvas to the sky;
The crimson trees, aglow with light,
Unto our banners wave reply.
Like Horeb's bush the leaves repeat
From lips Of flame with glory crowned:
"Put off thy shoes from off thy feet,
The place they trod is holy ground"
o fairest stream beneath the sun
Thy Highland portal was the key.
Which force and treason well. nigh won,
Like that of famed Thermopyla.
That Ridge along our eastern coast,
From Carolina to the Sound,
Opposed its front to Engand's host,
And heroes at each pass were found.
A vast primeval palisade,
With bastious bold and wooded crest,
A ht,lx., IL utrO 1,