Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1897-05-27
The lonely vlgil.


(The following poem is thought t.
be appropriate at this time as we ar
soon to honor our brave dead. Th
Poem was written by Mrs. Annie Barn
we'll Morton, of Morganfield, BY, an
was inspired by an incident mentione'
by John Eston Cooke when q South
ern girl, on the night after the battl
of Winchester, Sept. 10, 1924. nurse'
back to life desperately wounde'
Confederate soldier. The poem wa
first published in the Greenbrier In
dependent.)
Slowly the Night Queen moved along
Her pathway through the sky,
And calmly on the earth looked down
In silent majesty;
Softly DER river, hill and plain
Her tender light was shed
But softest on the battlefield,
Where heroes fought and bled.
Through all the bright September day,
They waged the desperated fight
But the red field was lost and won,
Ere fell the shades of night.
Then, with the surgeons came band
OF Southern women fair,
Giving to wounded friend and foe,
Alike, their needed care.
Brave, stalwart men in manhood's prime
We're lying side by side.
With grey. haired sires, and beardless boys
In youths first flush of pride;
Some moaned in anguish as they writhed
Upon the blood stained sod;
And some were still in Deaths cold sleep,
Their souls gone home to God.
There meath the plying moonbeams, sat
A sweet-faced girl alone;
So motionless she almost seemed
A woman carved in stone.
But life spoke in her tender eyes.
And PHYS holy light
Shone like halo round her brow.
And touched her lips that night.
How came she on that bloody field,
With dead and dying strewn.
Through the long hours of the night.
Still, silent and alone?
A boys bright head rests on her arm.
Pale-faced, with lips apart,
To her stranger, but the joy
Of some fond mothers heart.
With blood. his uniform of grey
| Was stained in many place;
And, through the battle-soil, the flush
OF fever dyed his face.
His lips had ceased their frenzied moan
OF mother, home and friends,
And parted in the deep, calm sleep
On which his life depends.
She knew that sleep for him meant life.
While waking was deaths seal.
And when they bade her lay him down,
Her heart, so true and leal,
Pied for the wounded soldier boy,
Unfriended and unknown;
She could not leave him there to die,
Uncared tor, and alone.
So all night long, her wearied arm
Pillowed his golden head,
Guarding his sleep, alone. among
The dying and the dead.
No sound to break the stiffness, save
| Low means of restless pain;
None, but the Queen of Night, to share
Her vigil 'mongst the slain.
Nay Said there was none to share
j Her lonely watch of love,
When O 'er her and those suffering men
From His dear Home above.
A loving Father vigil kept.
With Christ, His pain-taught Son,
Who died that they through him might shal
The Home His death had won?
When, with the morn, came life and hel
And the lad raised his head.
Her wearied arm dropped to her side.
Neryeless, and well-nigh dead.
But her true heart thrilled with the bliss,
That comes to those who have
> A lonely vigil 'mongst the dead,
A strangers life to save.
Virginia, Mother of the States,
Can many daughters claim,
r Whose deeds of courage, faith and love,
+ Shed luster on her name;
t But none could greater courage show,
s Or higher love display,
8 Than she, who through that hlgnt alohe'
s. Held Azrael at bay.
A mirror could not lie if it wanted
The glass has nothing to gain by III
tery. II the roses of health and plum
ness of beauty are leaving your Ia
y your mirror will tell you SO. Health
n the greatest beautifier in the wor
n When a woman sees the indications
o i'll. health in the face, she may with
e most absolute certainty look for I
l. cause in one or both of two conditie
t. -constipation, and arrangement
, the organs distinctly feminine.
e Pierce's Favorite Prescription will c'
y permanently and positively any SO CT
d ed s.female complaint DR.. Plerc
=. Pleasant Pellets will cure constipatl'
n There is no reason in the world why
"a woman should not be perfectly heaitl
t She will gain in health, strength a
"a flesh. Hollows and angles will G
n place to fullness and grace. She
e be that noblest and most beautiful
q all creations perfect woman.
u Send 81 cents in one-cent stamps
y Worlds Dispensary Medical Assoc
n ton. Buffalo, N. Y, and receive
le Pierce,s 1908 page Common Sel
% Medical Ad viser," profusely illustrat
III everybody Says Sc.
* Cascsrets Candy Cathartic, the most We
derful medical discovery of the age, pie:
lg ant aud refreshing to the tasi 9, act gem
m and positively OH Kidneys liver and boWe
cleansing the entire system, dlspel COZ;
n cure headache, fever, habitual constipatl