SONG OF MARION'S MEN.

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.*

1

Our band is few, but true and tried,
Our leader frank and bold;
The British soldier trembles
When Marion's name is told.
Our fortress is the good greenwood,
Our tent the cypress-tree;
We know the forest round us,

As seamen know the sea.

We know its walls of thorny vines,
Its glades of reedy grass,
Its safe and silent islands

Within the dark morass.

2

Woe to the English soldiery
That little dread us near!
On them shall light at midnight
A strange and sudden fear:
When waking to their tents on fire
They grasp their arms in vain,
And they who stand to face us
Are beat to earth again;
And they who fly in terror deem

A mighty host behind,

And hear the tramp of thousands

Upon the hollow wind.

3

Then sweet the hour that brings release

From danger and from toil:

For Biography see p. 247.

We talk the battle over,

And share the battle's spoil.

The woodland rings with laugh and shout, As if a hunt were up,

And woodland flowers are gathered

To crown the soldier's cup.
With merry songs we mock the wind
That in the pine-top grieves,
And slumber long and sweetly,

On beds of oaken leaves.

4

Well knows the fair and friendly moon

The band that Marion leadsThe glitter of their rifles,

The scampering of their steeds.
'Tis life our fiery barbs to guide
Across the moonlight plains;
"Tis life to feel the night-wind

That lifts their tossing manes.
A moment in the British camp—
A moment and away
Back to the pathless forest,
Before the peep of day.

5

Grave men there are by broad Santee,
Grave men with hoary hairs,

Their hearts are all with Marion,

For Marion are their prayers.
And lovely ladies greet our band,
With kindliest welcoming,
With smiles like those of summer,

And tears like those of spring.

For them we wear these trusty arms,
And lay them down no more
Till we have driven the Briton,
Forever, from our shore.

HELPS TO STUDY.

Historical: General Francis Marion of South Carolina, with a small band of daring men, kept up an irregular but successful warfare against the British troops. His exploits became famous. On account of these adventurous maneuvers he was called the "Swamp Fox.'' After the war closed he resumed the life of a farmer.

THE HURRICANE.

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.

Lord of the winds! I feel thee nigh,
I know thy breath in the burning sky!
And I wait, with a thrill in every vein,
For the coming of the hurricane!

And lo! on the wing of the heavy gales,

Through the boundless arch of heaven he sails;
Silent, and slow, and terribly strong,

The mighty shadow is borne along,
Like the dark eternity to come;

While the world below, dismayed and dumb
Through the calm of the thick hot atmosphere
Looks up at its gloomy folds with fear.

They darken fast-and the golden blaze
Of the sun is quenched in the lurid haze,
And he sends through the shade a funeral ray-
A glare that is neither night nor day,

A beam that touches, with hues of death,
The clouds above and the earth beneath.
To its covert glides the silent bird,
While the hurricane's distant voice is heard,
Uplifted among the mountains round,

And the forests hear and answer the sound.
He is come! he is come! do ye not behold
His ample robes on the wind unrolled?
Giant of air! we bid thee hail!-

How his gray skirts toss in the whirling gale;
How his huge and writhing arms are bent
To clasp the zone of the firmament,
And fold, at length, in their dark embrace,
From mountain to mountain the visible space
Darker-still darker! the whirlwinds bear

35

40

45

50

The dust of the plains to the middle air:
And hark to the crashing, long and loud,
Of the chariot of God in the thunder-cloud!
You may trace its path by the flashes that start
From the rapid wheels where'er they dart,
As the fire bolts leap to the world below,
And flood the skies with a lurid glow.

What roar is that? 'tis the rain that breaks,
In torrents away from the airy lakes,

Heavily poured on the shuddering ground,
And shedding a nameless horror round.

Ah! well-known woods, and mountains, and skies,
With the very clouds !-ye are lost to my eyes.
I seek ye vainly, and see in your place

The shadowy tempest that sweeps through space,
A whirling ocean that fills the wall
Of the crystal heaven, and buries all.
And I, cut off from the world, remain
Alone with the terrible hurricane.

HELPS TO STUDY.

Notes and Questions.

What time of the year did this
storm occur?

Read lines which tell this.
With what feelings did Bryant
wait for the hurricane?
To what does the pronoun "he"
in line six refer?

Read the lines which picture the
coming of the hurricane.
How did the "world below"

await the coming of the hurri-
cane?

Mention the various forms of
animal life which Bryant might

have had in mind when he used the expression "world below."

To what does the word "they" with which line thirteen opens refer?

To what does the word "he" in line fifteen refer?

What does the word "covert" mean?

Where do you think the birds went?

What word tells you that the birds were frightened?