Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.
By James RyderRandall738 John Pelham
J
With all its gorgeous cheer,
In the bright April of historic life
Fell the great cannoneer.
His bleeding country weeps;
Hushed, in the alabaster arms of Death,
Our young Marcellus sleeps.
Curbing his chariot steeds,
The knightly scion of a Southern home
Dazzled the land with deeds.
The Champion of the Truth—
He bore his banner to the very front
Of our immortal youth.
The fiery pang of shells,—
And there ’s a wail of immemorial woe
In Alabama dells:
Along the crimson field;
The meteor blade sinks from the nerveless hand,
Over the spotless shield.
While, round the lips and eyes,
Couched in their marble slumber, flashed the grace
Of a divine surprise.
Thy tears may soon be shed!
Think of thy boy, with princes of the sky,
Among the Southern dead!
Fevered with swift renown—
He, with the martyr’s amaranthine wreath,
Twining the victor’s crown!