Page:Poems Davidson.djvu/145

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THE FAMILY TIME-PIECE.
91
How many hours of war, of blood, of death,
Which added laurels to the victor's wreath?

How many deep-drawn sighs thy hand hath told,
And dimmed the smile, and dried the tear which rolled
When the loud cannon spoke the voice of war,
And death and bloodshed whirled their crimson car?

When the proud banner, waving in the breeze,
Had welcomed war, and bade adieu to peace,
Thy faithful finger traced the wing of time,
Pointed to earth, and then to heaven sublime.

Unmoved amid the carnage of the world,
When thousands to eternity were hurled,
Thy head was reared aloft, truth's chosen child,
Beaming serenely through the troubled wild.

Friend of my youth, ere from its mould'ring clay
My joyful spirit wings to heaven its way,
O may'st thou watch beside my aching head,
And tell how fast time flits with feathered tread.