POEMS OF JAMES RYDER RANDALL
Better the charnels of the West
And a hecatomb of lives,
Than the foul invader as a guest,
’Mid your sisters and your wives—
But a spirit lurketh in every maid,
Though, brothers, ye should quail,
To sharpen a Judith’s lurid blade,
And the livid spike of Jael!
To arms! to arms! for the South needs help,
And a craven is he who flees—
For ye have the sword of the Lion’s Whelp,
And the God of the Maccabees!
Brothers! I see you tramping by,
With the gladiator gaze,
And your shout is the Macedonian cry
Of old, heroic days!
March on! with trumpet and with drum,
With rifle, pike, and dart,
And die—if even death must come—
Upon your country’s heart.
To arms! to arms! for the South needs help,
And a craven is he who flees—
For ye have the sword of the Lion’s Whelp,
And the God of the Maccabees!
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