Ode-“Souls of Heroes”
Charleston Mercury
Souls of heroes, ascended from fields ye have won,
Still smile on the conflict so greatly begun;
Bring succor to comrade, to brother, to son
Now breasting the battle in ranks of the brave;
And the dastard that loiters, the conflict to shun,
Pursue him with scorn to the grave!
II
Pursue him with furies that goad to despair,
Hunt him out, where he crouches in crevice and lair,
Drive him forth, while the wife of his bosom cries—“There
Goes the coward that skulks, though his sister and wife
Tremble, nightly, in sleep, overshadowed by fear
Of a sacrifice dearer than life.”
III
There are thousands that loiter, of historied claim,
Who boast of the heritage shrined in each name—
Sting their souls to the quick, till they shrink from the shame
Which dishonors the names and the past of their boast;
Even now they may win the best guerdon of fame,
And retrieve the bright honors they’ve lost!
IV
Even now, while their country is torn in the toils,
While the wild boar is raging to raven the spoils,
While the boa is spreading around us the coils
Which would strangle the freedom our ancestors gave;
But each soul must be quickened until it o’er-boils,
Every muscle be corded to save!
V
Still the cause is the same which, in long ages gone,
Roused up your great sires, so gallantly known,
When, braving the tyrant, the sceptre and throne,
They rushed to the conflict, despising the odds;
Armed with bow, spear, and scythe, and with sling and with stone,
For their homes and their family gods!
VI
Shall we be less worthy the sacrifice grand,
The heritage noble we took at their hand,
The peace and the comfort, the fruits of the land;
And, sunk in a torpor as hopeless as base,
Recoil from the shock of the Sodomite band,
That would ruin the realm and the race?
VII
Souls of heroes, ascended from fields ye have won,
Your toils are not closed in the deeds ye have done;
Touch the souls of each laggard and profligate son,
The greed and the sloth, and the cowardice shame;
Till we rise to complete the great work ye’ve begun,
And with freedom make conquest of fame!