Page:Poems, now first collected, Stedman, 1897.djvu/93

THE DUTCH PATROL As well befits a conqueror's,

With silver bands around.

He reads the lines that mark

His tablet on the wall,

Where boldly

Stands out beyond them all.

"They hold our memory dear;

Nor rust nor moss hath crept across;

'T will last this many a year."

Then down the path he strides,

And through the iron gate,

Where the sage Nine Men, his councillors,

Their Governor await.

Here are Van der Donck and Van Cortlandt,

A triplet more of Vans,

And Hendrick Kip of the haughty lip,

And Govert Loockermans,

Jan Jansen Dam, and Jansen,

Of whom our annals tell,—

All risen this night their lord to greet

At sound of the Christmas bell.

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