Page:Songs from the Southern Seas and Other Poems (1873).djvu/200

196 That hid the stirring scene from view; but soon a booming sound Proclaimed the opening of the fight. Then war's loud thunder rolled, And hurtling shells and whistling balls their deadly message told. We hoped to have a gallant day; our hearts were all aglow; We longed for one wild, sweeping charge, to chase the flying foe. Our troopers marked the hours glide by, but still no orders came: They clutched their swords, and muttered words 'twere better not to name. For hours the loud artillery roared,—the sun was at its height,— Still there we lay behind that hill, shut out from all the fight! We heard the maddened charging yells, the ringing British cheers, And all the din of glorious war kept sounding in our ears.