Ready
By Phoebe Cary (1824 � 1871) |
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Loaded with gallant soldiers,
A boat shot in to
the land,
And lay at the right of Rodman's Point
With
her keel upon the sand.
Lightly, gayly, they came to
shore,
And never a man afraid;
When sudden the enemy
opened fire
From his deadly ambuscade.
Each man
fell flat on the bottom
Of the boat; and the captain
said:
"If we lie here, we all are captured,
And the
first who moves is dead!"
Then out spoke a negro
sailor,
No slavish soul had he;
"Somebody's got to
die, boys,
And it might as well be me!"
Firmly he
rose, and fearlessly
Stepped out into the tide;
He
pushed the vessel safely off,
Then fell across her side:
Fell, pierced by a dozen bullets,
As the boat swung
clear and free;--
But there wasn't a man of them that day
Who was fitter to die than he! |
By Phoebe Cary (1824 � 1871)
Listed
July 21, 2012 |
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Note: Reflection of the Civil
Wary in 1861
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