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ABRAM JOSEPH RYAN

[Abram Joseph Ryan was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1839. He entered the Roman Catholic priesthood in 1861 and was a chaplain in the Confederate army. After the war his service to his church took him into almost every Southern state, his longest stay in any one place being twelve years in Mobile, Alabama. During this part of his life he busied himself with preaching, lecturing, editing religious periodicals, and writing verse. Father Ryan died in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1886.]

THE CONQUERED BANNER

Furl that Banner, for t is weary; Round its staff t is drooping dreary; Furl it, fold it, it is best; For there s not a man to wave it, And there s not a sword to save it, And there s not one left to lave it In the blood which heroes gave it; And its foes now scorn and brave it; Furl it, hide it let it rest! Take that Banner down! t is tattered; Broken is its staff and shattered; And the valiant hosts are scattered Over whom it floated high. Oh! t is hard for us to fold it; Hard to think there s none to hold it; Hard that those who once unrolled it Now must furl it with a sigh. Furl that Banner! furl it sadly J Once ten thousands hailed it gladly, And ten thousands wildly, madly, Swore it should forever wave;