Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

William McCarty, comp. The American National Song Book. 1842.

Boreal’s Truce

NOW western lakes are frozen o’er,

And battle-fields, late grim with gore,

Are deck’d as gay as bride;

And war-worn soldiers, friends or foes,

In winter’s quarters snug repose

By lake or border side.

Along the bleak Atlantic coast

Blockading fleets are tempest-tost,

Thanks to Boreal’s care:

E’en meteor Cockburn’s flaming brand,

By Vengeance and the furies fann’d,

Hath ceased awhile to glare.

Now Carnage hath short respite found,

Since Mars, in icy fetters bound,

Benumb’d doth quit the field.

Let’s seek that good, in sober mood,

Ere Spring shall mount rebellious blood,

That cool reflections yield.

Another famed campaign is o’er,

And many valiant warriors’ gore

Hath drench’d Canadian plains.

Forts ta’en through seas of blood are lost,

Ere conqu’ring chiefs can count the cost,

Or either count his gains.

Fair shines Columbia’s starry crest,

In martial pride high swells her breast,

Victoria rends the air;

But orphans’ sighs, and widows’ moans,

And dying soldiers’, parents’ groans,

Fall heavily on the ear.

The laurel wreath the conqueror wears,

Is dew’d by many a mourner’s tears,

In bitter anguish shed:

May efflorescent genial Spring,

From Belgian shores the olive bring,

To flourish in its stead.