The Green Mountain Boys.

154

By William C. Bryant.

Here we halt our march and pitch our tent
On the rugged forest ground,
And light our fire with the branches rent
By winds from the beaches round.
Wild storms have torn this ancient wood,
But a wilder is at hand,
With hail of iron and rain of blood,
To sweep and scathe the land.

How the dark waste rings with voices shrill,
That startle the sleeping bird;
To-morrow eve must the voice be still,
And the step must fall unheard.
The Briton lies by the blue Champlain,
In Ticonderoga's towers,
And ere the sun rise twice again,
The towers and the lake are ours.

Fill up the bowl from the brook that glides
Where the fireflies light the brake;
A ruddier juice the Briton hides
In his fortress by the lake.
Build high the fire till the panther leap
From his lofty perch in fright,
And we'll strengthen our weary arms with sleep
For the deeds of to-morrow night.