Ye who remembered the Alamo, Remember the Maine! Richard Hovey [1864-1900] DEWEY AT MANILA [MAY 1, 1898] 'Twas the very verge of May When the bold Olympia led Into Bocagrande Bay Dewey's squadron, dark and dread,Creeping past Corregidor, Guardian of Manila's shore. Do they sleep who wait the fray? All too late their screaming shell We've no leisure to turn back. And as, like a slowing tide, Onward still the vessels creep, Dewey, watching, falcon-eyed, Orders,-"Let the gunners sleep; For we meet a foe at four Well they slept, for well they knew He was wise (as well as true) Long shall Spain the day deplore May is dancing into light O Montojo, to thy deck, That to-day shall float its last! Quick! To quarters! Yonder speck Grows a hull of portent vast. Hither, toward Cavite's lee Comes the Yankee hunting thee! Not for fear of hidden mine Halts our doughty Commodore. He, of old heroic line, Follows Farragut once more, Hazards all on victory, Here within Cavité's lee. If he loses, all is gone; He will win because he must. And the shafts of yonder dawn Are not quicker than his thrust. Soon, Montojo, he shall be With thee in Cavité's lee. Now, Manila, to the fray! Show the hated Yankee host This is not a holiday, Spanish blood is more than boast. Fleet and mine and battery, Crush him in Cavité's lee! Lo, hell's geysers at our fore Pierce the plotted path-in vain, Nerving every man the more With the memory of the Maine! Now at last our guns are free Here within Cavité's lee. "Gridley," says the Commodore, "You may fire when ready." Then Long and loud, like lions' roar When a rival dares the den, Breaks the awful cannonry Full across Cavité's lee. Who shall tell the daring tale Of our gunners' deadly aim; Of the gallant foe and brave Who, unconquered, faced with flame, Seek the mercy of the wave,— Choosing honor in the sea Underneath Cavité's lee? Let the meed the victors gain Noon, the woful work is done! But, of their eleven, none Ever was so truly Spain's! Which is prouder, they or we, Thinking of Cavité's lee? ENVOY But remember, when we've ceased Giving praise and reckoning odds, Man shares courage with the beast, Wisdom cometh from the gods: Who would win, on land or wave, Robert Underwood Johnson [1853 DEEDS OF VALOR AT SANTIAGO [JULY 1, 1898] WHO cries that the days of daring are those that are faded far, That never a light burns planet-bright to be hailed as the hero's star? Let the deeds of the dead be laureled, the brave of the elder years, But a song, we say, for the men of to-day, who have proved themselves their peers! High in the vault of the tropic sky is the garish eye of the sun, And down with its crown of guns afrown looks the hilltop to be won; There is the trench where the Spaniard lurks, his hold and his hiding-place, And he who would cross the space between must meet death face to face. The black mouths belch and thunder, and the shrapnel shrieks and flies; Where are the fain and the fearless, the lads with the dauntless eyes? Will the moment find then wanting! Nay, but with valor stirred! Like the leashed hound on the coursing-ground they wait but the warning word. 'Charge!" and the line moves forward, moves with a shout and a swing, While sharper far than the cactus-thorn is the spiteful bullet's sting. Now they are out in the open, and now they are breasting the slope, While into the eyes of death they gaze as into the eyes of hope. Never they wait nor waver, but on they clamber and on, With "Up with the flag of the Stripes and Stars, and down with the flag of the Don!" What should they bear through the shot-rent air but rout to the ranks of Spain, For the blood that throbs in their hearts is the blood of the boys of Anthony Wayne! See, they have taken the trenches! Where are the foemen? Gone! And now "Old Glory" waves in the breeze from the heights of San Juan! And so, while the dead are laureled, the brave of the elder years, A song, we say, for the men of to-day, who have proved themselves their peers. Clinton Scollard [1860 BREATH ON THE OAT FREE are the Muses, and where freedom is Empty of every nymph; wide have they flown; And now on new sierras think to set Their wandering court, and thrill the world anew, As yet has sounded. Therefore, would I woo |