Hurrah! the foes are moving. Hark
to the mingled din,
Of fife, and steed, and trump, and drum,
and roaring culverin.
The fiery duke is pricking fast across
Saint Andre’s plain,
With all the hireling chivalry of Guelders
and Almayne.
Now by the lips of those ye love, fair
gentlemen of France,
Charge for the golden lilies—upon
them with the lance!
A thousand spurs are striking deep, a
thousand spears in rest.
A thousand knights are pressing close
behind the snow-white crest;
And in they burst, and on they rushed,
while, like a guiding star,
Amidst the thickest carnage blazed the
helmet of Navarre.
Now, God be praised, the day is ours:
Mayenne hath turned his rein;
D’Aumale hath cried for quarter;
the Flemish count is slain;
Their ranks are breaking like thin clouds
before a Biscay gale;
The field is heaped with bleeding steeds,
and flags, and cloven mail.
And then we thought on vengeance, and,
all along our van,
Remember Saint Bartholomew! was passed
from man to man.
But out spake gentle Henry—“No
Frenchmen is my foe:
Down, down, with every foreigner, but
let your brethren go.”
Oh! was there ever such a knight, in friendship
or in war,
As our sovereign lord, King Henry, the
soldier of Navarre?
Right well fought all the Frenchmen who
fought for France to-day;
And many a lordly banner God gave them
for a prey.
But we of the religion have borne us best
in fight;
And the good lord of Rosny hath ta’en
the cornet white—
Our own true Maximilian the cornet white
hath ta’en,
The cornet white with crosses black, the
flag of false Lorraine.
Up with it high; unfurl it wide—that
all the host may know
How God hath humbled the proud house which
wrought His Church such
woe.
Then on the ground, while trumpets sound
their loudest point of war,
Fling the red shreds, a footcloth meet
for Henry of Navarre.
Ho! maidens of Vienna; ho! matrons of
Lucerne—
Weep, weep, and rend your hair for those
who never shall return.
Ho! Philip, send, for charity, thy
Mexican pistoles,
That Antwerp monks may sing a mass for
thy poor spearmen’s souls.
Ho! gallant nobles of the League, look
that your arms be bright;
Ho! burghers of St. Genevieve, keep watch
and ward to-night;
For our God hath crushed the tyrant, our
God hath raised the slave,
And mocked the counsel of the wise, and
the valor of the brave.
Then glory to His holy name, from whom
all glories are;
And glory to our sovereign lord, King
Henry of Navarre!
LORD MACAULAY.
* * * * *
INCIDENT OF THE FRENCH CAMP.
You know we French stormed Ratisbon:
A mile or so away,
On a little mound, Napoleon
Stood on our storming-day;
With neck out-thrust, you fancy how,
Legs wide, arms locked behind,
As if to balance the prone brow,
Oppressive with its mind.