WILLIAM GORDON MCCABE 1841 CAPTAIN MCCABE, head master of the University School at Richmond, Virginia, was born near Richmond, and was graduated from the University of Virginia. He was a captain of artillery in the Confederate army. During the war he wrote several popular lyrics. He is also the author of The Defence of Petersburg, Campaign of 1864-1865. His sprightly wit, scholarship, and good comradeship make him welcome in all social and literary circles. CHRISTMAS NIGHT OF '62 THE wintry blast goes wailing by, Dim forms go flitting through the gloom; The soldiers cluster round the blaze My saber swinging overhead Gleams in the watch fire's fitful glow, My thoughts go wandering to and fro, And sweetly from the far-off years Comes borne the laughter faint and low, 5 10 15 20 I feel again the mother-kiss, I see again the glad surprise That lightened up the tranquil eyes, Gleams in the watch fire's fitful glow, Those cherished faces all are gone! Asleep within the quiet graves 10 Where lies the snow in drifting waves,- 15 There's not a comrade here to-night But knows that loved ones far away On bended knees this night will pray: "God bring our darling from the fight." But there are none to wish me back, For me no yearning prayers arise. The lips are mute and closed the eyes – In the Army of Northern Virginia. JOAQUIN MILLER 1841 20 CICINNATUS HINER MILLER, better known by his pen name, Joaquin Miller, was born in Indiana, but most of his life has been spent on the Pacific slope. He has been a miner, a lawyer, a judge, and an editor. He has traveled in Europe, and in very recent years he made a visit to the Klondike. Several volumes of verse and two or three novels have come from his pen. He lives in a picturesque house on the heights overlooking San Francisco Bay. COLUMBUS BEHIND him lay the gray Azores, Before him only shoreless seas. The good mate said: "Now must we pray, For lo! the very stars are gone. and on!'" "My men grow mutinous day by day; If we sight naught but seas at dawn?" 'Sail on sail on! sail on! and on!'" They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow, "Why, now not even God would know Should I and all my men fall dead. These very winds forget their way, For God from these dread seas is gone. Now speak, brave Adm'r'l, speak and say "— They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate: 25 "This mad sea shows his teeth to-night. He curls his lip, he lies in wait, Brave Adm'r'l, say but one good word: What shall we do when hope is gone? The words leapt like a leaping sword: "Sail on sail on! sail on and on!" Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck, And peered through darkness. Ah, that night Of all dark nights! And then a speck · A light! A light! A light! A light! It grew, a starlit flag unfurled! It grew to be Time's burst of dawn. He gained a world; he gave that world Its grandest lesson: "On! sail on!" WESTWARD HO! WHAT strength! what strife! what rude unrest! A mighty nation moving west, With all its steely sinews set 5 10 15 20 O bearded, stalwart, westmost men, 25 So tower-like, so Gothic built! A kingdom won without the guilt Of studied battle, that hath been Your blood's inheritance. . . . Your heirs 30 Cleave softly through the mellow loam. She stops, she leans, she wonders why Yea, Time, the grand old harvester, Comes back in answer. Deep and wide His ghost is moving down the trees, Of bluff, bold men who dared and died In foremost battle, quite aside. SIDNEY LANIER 1842-1881 5 10 15 20 MOST critics regard Lanier as the chief of the poets who have come from the South since the death of Poe. He was born at Macon, Georgia, and was graduated from Oglethorpe College. He was among the first to enlist in the Confederate army, and near the close of the war he served on a blockade runner. For a time after the war he taught school, and later practiced law; but his absorbing interest was in music |