Hear the Northern thunders mutter!
Northern flags in South winds flutter!
Send them back your fierce defiance!
Stamp upon the accursed alliance!
Fear no danger! Shun no labor!
Lift up rifle, pike, and saber!
Shoulder pressing close to shoulder,
Let the odds make each heart bolder!
How the South's great heart rejoices
At your cannons' ringing voices!
For faith betrayed, and pledges broken,
Wrong inflicted, insults spoken.
Strong as lions, swift as eagles,
Back to their kennels hunt these beagles!
Cut the unequal bonds asunder!
Let them hence each other plunder!
Swear upon your country's altar
Never to submit or falter,
Till the spoilers are defeated,
Till the Lord's work is completed.
HARRY McCARTHY
[Harry McCarthy was an Irish actor who enlisted in the Confederate army from Arkansas. After a time he was granted a discharge and continued his career as an actor in Richmond and other places. Little is known of his subsequent career. He wrote other war poems, but none attained the popularity of "The Bonnie Blue Flag."]
