Page:Poems Davidson.djvu/26

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xiv
INTRODUCTORY.
  'Neath the smile of the moon,
  Then the light dragoon
Will lie down by his steed again.
   Then up, gallant steed, etc.

III.

  When sleep is done,
  And the rising sun
Shall have burnished thy glossy hair,
  To horse again,
  And we'll scour the plain,
And we'll beat up the red man's lair.
   Then up, gallant steed, etc.

It is to be regretted that Lieut. Davidson should have. destroyed, shortly before his death, nearly his entire collection of manuscript poems; for, if we may trust the judgment of those of his friends who had read them, many possessed more than a common degree of merit. From a few which escaped the flames, we select one, not so much for the poetic skill displayed in its composition, as for the interest of the story connected with it, and which serves to introduce an incident in the life of its writer.

Lieut. Davidson possessed a favorite charger named "Chicago," which had carried him on many a weary march, and through many a dangerous defile in the Indian country. For its docility and almost human intelligence, it was fondly loved by the soldier, who regarded it with a like affection that the Arab of the desert is said to have for his steed.