96
A SONG FOR THE SOLDIERS.
Cried the captain, "Men, we must charge!" and he grieves for his boys and their foemen;
"But show them a sign of quarter;" and he swings them a flag to tell them
That his side is willing to parley: the Indians riddle the ensign,
And the captain groans in his heart as he gives the order for charging.
Terrible getting ready of men who prepare for a death-fight:—
Scabbards are thrown aside and belts unstrapped for the striking,
Ominous outward signs of the deadlier inner preparing
When the soul flings danger aside and the human heart its mercy.
Out from the fatal earthworks, their eyes like fire in a cavern,
