LEXINGTON

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

1

Slowly the mist o'er the meadow was creeping,
Bright on the dewy buds glistened the sun,
When from his couch, while his children were sleeping,
Rose the bold rebel and shouldered his gun.
Waving her golden veil

Over the silent dale,

Blithe looked the morning on cottage and spire;
Hushed was his parting sigh,

While from his noble eye

Flashed the last sparkle of liberty's fire.

2

On the smooth green where the fresh leaf is springing
Calmly the first-born of glory have met;
Hark! the death-volley around them is ringing!
Look! with their life-blood the young grass is wet!
Faint is the feeble breath,

Murmuring low in death,

"Tell to our sons how their fathers have died;" Nerveless the iron hand,

Raised for its native land,

Lies by the weapon that gleams at its side.

3

Over the hillsides the wild knell is tolling,
From their far hamlets the yeomanry come;

As through the storm-clouds the thunder-burst rolling,
Circles the beat of the mustering drum. .

Fast on the soldier's path
Darken the waves of wrath,

Long have they gathered and loud shall they fall;

Red glares the musket's flash,

Sharp rings the rifle's crash,

Blazing and clanging from thicket and wall.

4

Gayly the plume of the horseman was dancing,
Never to shadow his cold brow again;
Proudly at morning the war-steed was prancing,
Reeking and panting he droops on the rein;
Pale is the lip of scorn,

Voiceless the trumpet horn,

Torn is the silken-fringed red cross on high;
Many a belted breast

Low on the turf shall rest,

Ere the dark hunters the herd have past by.

5

Snow-girdled crags where the hoarse wind is raving,
Rocks where the weary floods murmur and wail,

Wilds where the fern by the furrow is waving,
Reeled with the echoes that rode on the gale;
Far as the tempest thrills

Over the darkened hills,

Far as the sunshine streams over the plain,

Roused by the tyrant band,

Woke all the mighty land,

Girded for battle, from mountain to main.

6

Green be the graves where her martyrs are lying! Shroudless and tombless they sunk to their rest,— While o'er their ashes the starry fold flying

Wraps the proud eagle they roused from his nest.

Borne on her northern pine,

Long o'er the foaming brine

Spread her broad banner to storm and to sun;

Heaven keep her ever free,

Wide as o'er land and sea

Floats the fair emblem her heroes have won.

HELPS TO STUDY

Historical: The battle of Lexington took place April 19th, 1775. It was the beginning of the war for independence. The mother country had imposed unjust and burdensome laws upon the colonists, some of which, notably the tax on tea, was resisted by them. To enforce these laws the British Government had sent troops to Boston under the command of General Gates, who, hearing that the Americans had collected powder, shot, and muskets at Concord, sent a force of soldiers to seize these supplies. Paul Revere was sent to warn the two leaders, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, and to give "his cry of alarm to every Middlesex village and farm.”

"It was one by the village clock

When he galloped into Lexington

It was two by the village clock

When he came to the bridge in Concord town.”

When the British soldiers, called regulars, reached Lexington, they found some minute-men drawn up on the green by the meeting-house. The British officer ordered them to throw down their Then he ordered his men arms and disperse, but they stood still. The regulars marched to fire and several were killed or wounded. to Concord, where the minute-men were drawn up "by the rude bridge. Here they destroyed some of the stores and then started back to Boston. On the way they were fired upon by farmers and minute-men from behind houses and barns, trees and stone walls, Holmes tries in this poem to give us a picture of the contest at Lexington.

Where is Lexington?

Notes and Questions

When did the Battle of Lexington occur?

What made this a famous battle? Who is meant by the "bold rebel''?

If Nature can subsist on three,

Thank Heaven for three. Amen!

I always thought cold victuals nice;-
My choice would be vanilla-ice.

3

I care not much for gold or land;-
Give me a mortgage here and there,-
Some good bank-stock,-some note of hand,
Or trifling railroad share;-

I only ask that Fortune send
A little more than I shall spend.

4

Honors are silly toys, I know,
And titles are but empty names;—
I would, perhaps, be Plenipo,—

But only near St. James;-
I'm very sure I should not care
To fill our Gubernator's chair.

5

Jewels are baubles 'tis a sin

To care for such unfruitful things;One good-sized diamond in a pin,

Some not so large, in rings,—

A ruby, and a pearl, or so,

Will do for me;—I laugh at show.

6

My dame should dress in cheap attire; (Good, heavy silks are never dear;)