Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Asia: Vols. XXI–XXIII. 1876–79.
The Relief of Lucknow
By Robert Lowell (18161891)O
We knew that it was the last;
That the enemy’s lines crept surely on,
And the end was coming fast.
And the men and we all worked on;
It was one day more of smoke and roar,
And then it would all be done.
A fair, young, gentle thing,
Wasted with fever in the siege,
And her mind was wandering.
And I took her head on my knee;
“When my father comes hame frae the pleugh,” she said,
“O, then please wauken me.”
In the flecking of woodbine-shade,
When the house-dog sprawls by the open door,
And the mother’s wheel is stayed.
And hopeless waiting for death;
And the soldier’s wife, like a full-tired child,
Seemed scarce to draw her breath.
Of an English village-lane,
And wall and garden;—but one wild scream
Brought me back to the roar again.
Till a sudden gladness broke
All over her face; and she caught my hand
And drew me near as she spoke:—
The slogan far awa?
The McGregor’s. O, I ken it weel;
It ’s the grandest o’ them a’!
We ’re saved! we ’re saved!” she cried:
And fell on her knees; and thanks to God
Flowed forth like a full flood-tide.
Had fallen among the men,
And they started back;—they were there to die;
But was life so near them, then?
Far off, and the far-off roar,
Were all; and the colonel shook his head,
And they turned to their guns once more.
But winna ye hear it noo.
‘The Campbells are comin’? It ’s no’ a dream;
Our succors hae broken through!”
But the pipes we could not hear;
So the men plied their work of hopeless war,
And knew that the end was near.
A thrilling, ceaseless sound:
It was no noise from the strife afar,
Or the sappers under ground.
And now they played “Auld Lang Syne.”
It came to our men like the voice of God,
And they shouted along the line.
And the women sobbed in a crowd;
And every one knelt down where he stood,
And we all thanked God aloud.
Our men put Jessie first;
And the general gave her his hand, and cheers
Like a storm from the soldiers burst.
Marching round and round our line;
And our joyful cheers were broken with tears,
As the pipes played “Auld Lang Syne.”