Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1886-01-15

Thirteen bright stars round the Palmetto
tree.
Let tyrants and slaves submissively tremble,
And bow down their necks meath the Jug
gernaut car;
But brave men will rise in the strength of a
nation,
And cry give me freedom, or else give me
war.
CHoRUs.-Farewell forever, &c.
JEFFERsoN,s GRAVE TO BE FREE
TOO.
The only author who attaches his ini-
tials to his poems is So. z. H., of Char
lottesville, Va" His first poem is on
"Old Dixie's Soldiers" in which he says:
Mid wars alarms fair Dixie stands
Arrayed against rude Northern bands,
Who strive to drive us from our soil,
And gloat their vengeance with the spoil.
CHORUS.
Old Dixie's soldiers are the boys,
Who fear no bombs or cannon's noise
Up to their rights they'll ever stand,
And drive invaders from our land.
Oh may the grave of Jefferson,
Continue to each Southern son,
OF freedoms cause, shrine to be
From tyrant's sway forever free.
CHoRUs.-Old DIxie's soldiers &c.
LONGING FOR THE WAR TO END.
A later poem by the same author seems
to view war in different light:
Alas! there is naught for me now to console
Save the pinions Of peace to be spread DER
our land,
And return me my lover with heart and
hand.
Oh! hasten back my soldier boy,
When victory has crowned thee;
Oh hasten back my soldier boy,
My love is wreathed around thee.
''RALLY ROUND THE FLAG BOYS"
This was one of the most popular camp
songs of the war. 1t YVES we believe sung
to piece of music captured from the
Union troops:
We're marching to the field, boys. we're
going to the fight,
Shouting the battle cry of Freedom.
And we bear the heavenly cross for our cause
in the right,
Shouting the battle cry of Freedom.
CHORUS.
Our rights forever, hurrah boys, hurrah!
Down with the tyrants, raise the
Southern Cross,
And We'll rally round that flag, boys,
we'll rally once again,
Shouting the battle cry of Freedom.
Well meet the Yankee hosts boys, with fear
less hearts and true,
Shouting the battle cry of Freedom.
And We'll show the bastard minions what
Southern pluck can do,
Shouting the battle cry of Freedom
CHoRUs.-Our rights forever, DC.
DEFENDING sToNEwALL JAcksoN's
GRAVE.
The poem of "Our Starry Cross u which
is the last in the book, seems to have been
written towards the end of the war, as it
mentions several battle fields that not
long preceded its end;
Our quarry CrOSS was nrSt unfurl "a
On Manassas bloody plain,
And gave the tidings to the world
Our rights we would maintain,
Then unfurl our Starry Cross,
In triumph let it wave,
While our gallant Southern boys
Defend our Stonewall's grave.
One can hardly read these crude poetic
utterances of lost cause without feel
ing of tender pity, in the light of the end
of it all, for those who wrote them and
those who sung them in such earnest. There
was a good deal of bragadocia in them,
but it was not the bluff of towards, but
the utterances of brave men who went out
and died trying to make their boasts good.
The hands that wrote them are still in
death. and the lips OF the thousands
who sung them have turned to dust.
but 1t is hard to look at the cheap, time
stained little volume that contains what
they thought was poetry, and what at
best was poor quality Of rhyme, with.
out feeling of reverence and affection
which we might not cherish for the great
est poem of the age, written to celebrate
the greatest victory of the world.