Classic Poem

Weep, Louisiana, weep thy gallant dead!
Weave the green laurel o'er the undaunted head!
Fling thy bright banner o'er the heart which bled
Defending thee!

Weep—weep, Imperial City, deep and wild!
Weep for thy martyred and heroic child,
The young, the brave, the free, the undefiled—
Ah! weep for him!

Lo! the wail surges from the embattled bands,
By Yorktown's plains and Pensacola's sands,
Re-echoing to the golden sugar lands,
Adieu! adieu!

The death of honor was the death he craved,
To die where weapons clashed and pennons waved,
To welcome freedom o'er the opening grave,
And live for aye.

He died while yet his chainless eye could roll,
Flashing the conflagrations of his soul!
The rose and mirror of the bold Creole,
He sleepeth well!

Lament, lone mother, for his early fate,
But bear thy burden with a hope elate,
For thou hast shrined thy jewel in the stake,
A priceless boon!

And thou, sad wife, thy sacred tears belong
To the untarnished and immortal throng;
For he shall fire the poet's breast and song
In thrilling strains.

And the fair virgins of our sunny clime
Shall wed their music to the minstrel's rhyme,
Making his fame melodious for all time—
Forever bright!