Song Of Marion's Men
by William Cullen Bryant
(1794 - 1898) |
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Our band is few, but true and tried,
Our leader frank
and bold;
The British soldier trembles
When Marion's
name is told.
Our fortress is the good greenwood
Our
tent the cypress-tree;
We know the forest round us,
As
seamen know the sea.
We know its walls of thorny vines,
Its glades of reedy grass,
Its safe and silent islands
Within the dark morass.
Woe to the English soldiery,
That little dread us near!
On them shall light at
midnight
A strange and sudden fear:
When, waking to
their tents on fire,
They grasp their arms in vain,
And they who stand to face us
Are beat to earth again.
And they who fly in terror deem
A mighty host behind,
And hear the tramp of thousands
Upon the hollow wind.
Then sweet the hour that brings release
From danger
and from toil;
We talk the battle over,
And share the
battle's spoil.
The woodland rings with laugh and shout
As if a hunt were up,
And woodland flowers are gathered
To crown the soldier's cup.
With merry songs we mock the
wind
That in the pine-top grieves,
And slumber long
and sweetly
On beds of oaken leaves.
Well knows
the fair and friendly moon
The band that Marion leads--
The glitter of their rifles,
The scampering of their
steeds.
'Tis life to guide the fiery barb
Across the
moonlight plain;
'Tis life to feel the night-wind
That
lifts his tossing mane.
A moment in the British camp--
A moment--and away
Back to the pathless forest,
Before
the peep of day.
Grave men there are by broad Santee,
Grave men with hoary hairs;
Their hearts are all with
Marion,
For Marion are their prayers.
And lovely
ladies greet our band
With kindliest welcoming,
With
smiles like those of summer,
And tears like those of
spring.
For them we wear these trusty arms,
And lay
them down no more
Till we have driven the Briton,
Forever, from our shore. |
By William Cullen Bryant
Listed June 11, 2012
Note:
(1780-1781)
While the British Army held South
Carolina, Marion
and Sumter gathered bands of partisans
and waged
a vigorous guerilla warfare most harassing and
destructive to the invader. |
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