Page:The complete poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar.pdf/89

 And like hounds unleashed and eager
 * For the life blood of the prey,

Sprung they forth and bore them bravely
 * In the thickest of the fray.

And where'er the fight was hottest,
 * Where the bullets fastest fell,

There they pressed unblanched and fearless
 * At the very mouth of hell.

Ah, they rallied to the standard
 * To uphold it by their might;

None were stronger in the labors,
 * None were braver in the fight.

From the blazing breach of Wagner
 * To the plains of Olustee,

They were foremost in the fight
 * Of the battles of the free.

And at Pillow! God have mercy
 * On the deeds committed there,

And the souls of those poor victims
 * Sent to Thee without a prayer.

Let the fulness of Thy pity
 * O'er the hot wrought spirits sway

Of the gallant colored soldiers
 * Who fell fighting on that day!

Yes, the Blacks enjoy their freedom,
 * And they won it dearly, too;

For the life blood of their thousands
 * Did the southern fields bedew.

In the darkness of their bondage,
 * In the depths of slavery's night,

Their muskets flashed the dawning,
 * And they fought their way to light.

They were comrades then and brothers,
 * Are they more or less to-day?

They were good to stop a bullet
 * And to front the fearful fray.

They were citizens and soldiers,
 * When rebellion raised its head;

And the traits that made them worthy,—
 * Ah! those virtues are not dead.

They have shared your nightly vigils,
 * They have shared your daily toil;

And their blood with yours commingling
 * Has enriched the Southern soil.

They have slept and marched and suffered
 * 'Neath the same dark skies as you,

They have met as fierce a foe-man,
 * And have been as brave and true.