Littell's Living Age/Volume 129/Issue 1671/Montgomery

MONTGOMERY.
1.

Ye powers of melody,
Aid me while I try
To sing the great Montgomery;
For I mean to tell
How the hero fell,
Contending for his country's liberty.

2.

When Britain's tyrant first,
By an ill counsel curst,
Resolved our country to enslave,
That great, that gallant chief
Flew to our relief,
Determined to oppose the haughty knave.

3.

Through winter's snow and frost,
Abraham's Plains he crost,
Took Fort St. John, Montreal, Chambly,
Then hastened to Quebec,
Which he did attack,
There fell the great, the brave Montgomery.

4.

"See, brave Americans,
There the city stands,
To storm it I have laid the plan;
Let ladders then be placed,
To yon walls in haste,
Your general, my boys, will lead the van."

5.

Then o'er the walls he flew,
Quebec to subdue,
Regardless of his destiny;
But ah! unhappy fate,
Painful to relate,
There fell the brave, the great Montgomery.

6.

The generous Carleton then,
Called unto his men,
"My boys! my boys! Forbear! forbear!
The great Montgomery,
See where he does lie!"
Then o'er his corse he dropt a silent tear.

7.

O, Carleton, may thy name
Live in endless fame,
Thou great, thou gallant enemy!
Of chiefs for Britain's crown,
Carleton, thou alone
Art blessed with honor and humility.

8.

Thou and Montgomery
When both souls are free,
Shall meet on the celestial plain,
And, though foes below,
There no rancour know
But ever and together live and reign.

9.

America, thy loss
Is a dreadful cross,
Montgomery, the great, the good.
But to expiate
His untimely fate,
Britannia, thou must yet shed tears of blood.