Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889
Vanquished
By Francis Fisher Browne (1843–1913)Sped by a mortal hand,
Not by the lightning stroke
When fiery tempests broke,—
Not mid the ranks of war
Fell the great Conqueror.
In the crash and carnage of the cannonade,—
Eye that dimmed not, hand that failed not,
Brain that swerved not, heart that quailed not,
Steel nerve, iron form,—
The dauntless spirit that o’erruled the storm.
A foeman to his chamber crept,
Lightly to the slumberer came,
Touched his brow and breathed his name:
O’er the stricken form there passed
Suddenly an icy blast.
Saluted Death, and sheathed his blade.
To a mightier Conqueror yields;
No mortal foeman’s blow
Laid the great Soldier low:
Victor in his latest breath—
Vanquished but by Death.