Confederate War Poetry

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John Pelham

by James Ryder Randall
(1839-1908)

Just as the spring came laughing through the strife
  With all its gorgeous cheer;
In the bright April of historic life
  Fell the great cannoneer.

The wondrous lulling of a hero's breath
  His bleeding country weeps --
Hushed in the alabaster arms of death,
  Our young Marcellus sleeps.

Nobler and grander than the Child of Rome,
  Curbing his chariot steeds;
The knightly scion of a Southern home
  Dazzled the land with deeds.

Gentlest and bravest in the battle brunt,
  The champion of the truth,
He bore his banner to the very front
  Of our immortal youth.

A clang of sabres 'mid Virginia snow,
  The fiery rush of shells --
And there's a wail of immemorial woe
  In Alabama dells.

The pennon drops that led the sabered band
  Along the crimson field!
The meteor blade sinks from the nerveless hand
  Over the spotless shield.

We gazed and gazed upon that beauteous face,
  While 'round the lips and eyes,
Couched in the marble slumber, flashed the grace
  Of a divine surprise.

Oh, Mother of a blessed soul on high!
  Thy tears may soon be shed --
Think of thy boy with princes of the sky,
  Among the Southern dead.

How must he smile on this dull world beneath,
  Fevered with swift reknown --
He -- with the martyr's amaranthine wreath
  Twining the victor's crown!

      --March 17, 1863

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