Poems (Denver)/The Warriors of the Sky

by Mary Caroline Denver

THE WARRIORS OF THE SKY.

The sentinels were posted round the host by brave Cornwallis led,
And the royal army slumbered, like an army of the dead:
Dimly the camp-fires lighted up the darkness of the night,
And on surrounding objects cast a melancholy light:
Deep silence brooded over all, and slumber held her sway;
Save where some wakeful soldiers sat, and watched the night away;
Beholding slowly, one by one, the glimmering lights expire,
As they listened to a comrade's tale, beside their bivouac fire.

"An hour ago," he said, "on guard I by the river stood,
Where the settler's axe to the steep bank's edge has cleared away the wood.
No stars shone on the water, and no wind its bosom stirred,
To the eve it moved not, but the ear its deep strong current heard.
My walk was up and down the stream, and as I paced along,
I hummed unconsciously the notes of a half-forgotten song
That mother sung, till it took me back to the old land far away,
To the hills and dales of Lincolnshire, in spring so bright and gay.

"Once more I floated on the creek that flowed by my first home,
And heard again the tales of wars that tempted me to roam:
Heard the low voice, that prayed for me, so many a silent night,
When slumber wrapt me in its folds, breathe yet the kind good-night.
Heard the gay huntsman's horn, the cry the hounds responding gave;
Like an infant in its cradle rocked the star upon the wave;
But happier, freer than them all, while the seasons danced along,
Was the boy that roamed among the hills, and dreamed of war and song.

"Anon the drum and trumpet called; and I, to serve inclined,
To the old home said a brief farewell, and left its scenes behind;
I saw the snowy sails expand, the good ship on- ward fly,
And England's white cliffs soon were lost unto my aching eye;
And then I longed to reach the land that held the distant foe
To see our conquering banners float, our burnished sabers glow.
How many a day came back to me, in that short waking dream,
While I paced guard back and forth, above Catawba's darkened stream!

"A light fell near me on the stream, a kind of lurid light,
That lessened, like the cloud-veiled moon, the darkness of the night.
Dim and uncertain first it seemed, then steadier grew the glare,
Deepening and widening o'er the earth, the water and the air.
I looked around me and above; the southern sky was red,
And silence was on all around, like the silence of the dead;
North, east, and west, there was no star to light the midnight scene,
And I turned in wonder to the south, to watch its changeful mien.

"Then dim and indistinct appeared a shadowy host of men,
And the sky was like a battle-field spread out before me then:
I saw the ranks of infantry march stately into line,
And bayonet and barrel in the light unnatural shine;
I saw the squadrons, man and horse, defined against the sky;
I saw the phantom banners float in crimson folds on high,
Then fainter grew the weird array until 'twas almost gone,
As to the westward all the host seemed to move slowly on.

"And then the heavy cannon in the distance loudly roared,
And sharp and quick the musketry's incessant volleys poured;
And soon again the troops appeared—shapes of retreating men,
Scattered in terror and dismay, broke on my vision then.
I saw the wounded soldier fall, the disarray the flight,
And heard the sharp, fierce call on men to turn and form in fight;
And still that' sullen roar was heard, until the sight was gone,
And westward still, and westward, the sound seemed rolling on.

"And while upon that wild, strange sight I gazed in doubt and fear,
I saw the scarlet uniform displayed, distinct and clear,
And 'midst the scattered legions there, that fled before the foe,
I saw old England's banner droop all mournfully and low;
And now, with eager headlong speed and banners flying free,
The Continental troops pursued, all flashed with victory.
So rapidly the scene moved on, the scene of phantom war,
And sullenly the sound rolled by and died in distance far.

"Oh, comrades! I have gazed on death, have slept beside the slain—
Have seen my gallant messmates fall on many a bloody plain—
Have lost myself amidst the smoke that wrapt the lurid field,
And witnessed scenes of danger that might make the bravest yield;
Yet never felt I fear till then, when, on the field of heaven,
I saw the victory to our foes by God's own mandate given;
Saw pictured there the end of all, our shattered columns fly,
Like leaves before the gale, before the warriors of the sky."

He said; none answered, but the eyes of all turned towards the west;
No phantom warriors there appeared to scare them from their rest;
The darkness like a night-bird sat on all things far and near,
Than the river's solemn anthem, they no other sound could hear;
Yet ominous appeared the gloom, and menacing that sound,
To the ears of those who, silent there, the waning fire around,
Dejected and dispirited, longed for the day to break,
And the world of life, now dead and dumb, at drum-beat to awake.