I HAVE no folded flock to show, | |
| Though from my youth I have loved the sheep | |
| And the lambs, as they strayed in the valleys low, | |
| Or clomb the upland pastures steep, | |
| But none were given me to keep! | 5 |
| I stood on the hill when the dawn brake red, | |
| Through the darkling glen the foe drew nigh, | |
| They came on swift, with a stealthy tread; | |
| I gave the earliest warning cry! | |
| Then flashed the falchion, the arrow flew; | 10 |
| I did not fight, nor yield, nor fly, | |
| I held up the flag the whole day through— | |
| Wrap it round me when I die! | |
| |
| I have no garnered sheaf to show, | |
| Though oft with my shining sickle bared | 15 |
| I have wrought with the reapers, row by row, | |
| And joined the shout as they homeward fared: | |
| I was not by when the land was shared! | |
| I stood at noon when the maidens dread | |
| Came forth ere the battle, to choose the slain, | 20 |
| And at nightfall the raven’s foot was red, | |
| And the wolves were met on the darkening plain. | |
| Then hewed the hanger, the sword smote sore, | |
| I held up the flag till the day went by; | |
| It was glued to my straining clasp with gore— | 25 |
| Wrap it round me when I die! | |
| |
| I have no silken spoil to show, | |
| No torque of the beaten gold, no red | |
| Rich broidered mantle, wrung from the foe, | |
| Or flung down by chief as the banquet sped; | 30 |
| I have only watched, and toiled, and bled! | |
| I stand at eve on the vessel’s prow, | |
| My heart is wounded, and I have striven | |
| So long that my arm is weary now, | |
| And the flag I bear is stained and riven; | 35 |
| The dark waves mutter, the night dews fall; | |
| ’Twixt a sullen sea and a stormy sky | |
| I hold up the flag in sight of all— | |
| Wrap it round me when I die! | |
| |
