Siege Of Vienna Raised By John Sobieski

FEBRUARY 1816

Oh, for a kindling touch from that pure flameWhich ministered, erewhile, to a sacrificeOf gratitude, beneath Italian skies,In words like these: 'Up, Voice of song! proclaim'Thy saintly rapture with celestial aim:'For lo! the Imperial City stands released'From bondage threatened by the embattled East,'And Christendom respires; from guilt and shame'Redeemed, from miserable fear set free'By one day's feat, one mighty victory. 10'--Chant the Deliverer's praise in every tongue!'The cross shall spread, the crescent hath waxed dim;'He conquering, as in joyful Heaven is sung,'HE CONQUERING THROUGH GOD, AND GOD BY HIM.'William Wordsworth

The Siege of Belgrade

An Austrian army, awfully arrayed,Boldly by battery besieged Belgrade;Cossack commanders cannonading come,Dealing destruction's devastating doom;Every endeavor engineers essayFor fame, for fortune, forming furious fray! Gaunt gunners grapple, giving gashes good;Heaves high his head, heroic hardihood;Ibraham, Islam, Ismail, imps in ill,Jostle John, Jarovlitz, Jem, Joe, Jack, Jill;Kick kindling Kutosoff, kings' kinsmen kill,Labor low levels loftiest, longest lines;Men marched 'mid moles, 'mid mounds, 'mid murd'rous mines.Now nightfall's near, now needful nature nods,Opposed, opposing, overcoming odds.Poor peasants, partly purchased, partly pressed,Quite quaking, Quarter! quarter! quickly quest.Reason returns, recalls redundant rage,Saves sinking soldiers, softens seigniors sage.Truce, Turkey, truce! truce, treach'rous Tartar train!Unwise, unjust, unmerciful Ukraine!Vanish, vile vengeance! vanish, victory vain!Wisdom wails war--wails warring words. What wereXerxes, Xantippe, Ximenes, Xavier?

Yet Yassy's youth, ye yield your youthful yest,Zealously, Zarius, zealously zeal's zest.

'Better Far to Pass Away'

Better far to pass away While the limbs are strong and young, Ere the ending of the day, Ere Youth's lusty song be sung, Hot blood pulsing through the veins, Youth's high hope a burning fire, Young men needs must break the chains That hold them from their heart's desire.

My friends the hills, the sea, the sun, The winds, the woods, the clouds, the trees - How feebly, if my youth were done, Could I, an old man, relish these! With laughter, then, I'll go to greet What Fate has still in store for me, And welcome Death if we should meet, And bear him willing company.

My share of fourscore years and ten I'll gladly yield to any man, And take no thought of 'where' or 'when', Contented with my shorter span. For I have learned what love may be, And found a heart that understands, And known a comrade's constancy, And felt the grip of friendly hands.

Come when it may, the stern decree For me to leave the cheery throng And quit the sturdy company Of brothers that I work among. No need for me to look askance, Since no regret my prospect mars. My day was happy - and perchance The coming night is full of stars.

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