Now, men of the North! will you join in the strife <br />For country, for freedom, for honor, for life? <br />The giant grows blind in his fury and spite,-- <br />One blow on his forehead will settle the fight! <br /> <br />Flash full in his eyes the blue lightning of steel, <br />And stun him with cannon-bolts, peal upon peal! <br />Mount, troopers, and follow your game to its lair, <br />As the hound tracks the wolf and the beagle the hare! <br /> <br />Blow, trumpets, your summons, till sluggards awake! <br />Beat, drums, till the roofs of the faint-hearted shake! <br />Yet, yet, ere the signet is stamped on the scroll, <br />Their names may be traced on the blood-sprinkled roll! <br /> <br />Trust not the false herald that painted your shield <br />True honor to-day must be sought on the field! <br />Her scutcheon shows white with a blazon of red,-- <br />The life-drops of crimson for liberty shed. <br /> <br />The hour is at hand, and the moment draws nigh; <br />The dog-star of treason grows dim in the sky; <br />Shine forth from the battle-cloud, light of the morn, <br />Call back the bright hour when the Nation was born! <br /> <br />The rivers of peace through our valleys shall run, <br />As the glaciers of tyranny melt in the sun; <br />Smite, smite the proud parricide down from his throne,-- <br />His sceptre once broken, the world is our own!<br /><br />Oliver Wendell Holmes<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-last-charge/
