96. stand by the flag.
I.Stand by the Flag!--its stars, like meteors gleaming,
Have lighted Arctic icebergs, Southern seas,
And shone responsive to the stormy beaming
Of old Arcturus and the Pleiades.
II.
Stand by the Flag!--its stripes have streamed in glory,
To foes a fear, to friends a festal robe,
And spread, in rhythmic lines, the sacred story
Of Freedom's triumph over all the globe.
III.
Stand by the Flag!--on land and ocean billow,
By it your fathers stood, unmoved and true,
Living defended — dying, from their pillow,
With their last blessing, passed it on to you.
IV.
Stand by the Flag!--immortal heroes bore it
Though sulphurous smoke, deep moat, and armed defence,
And their imperial shades still hover o'er it--
A guard celestial, from Omnipotence.
V.
Stand by the Flag!--it is a holy treasure;
Though wrong may dim some stars which should be light,
A steady, gentle, and persistent pressure,
Kindly exerted, yet will make them bright.
VI.
Stand by the Flag!--though death-shots round it rattle,
And underneath its waving folds have met,
In all the dread array of sanguine battle,
The quivering lance and glittering bayonet.
VII.
Stand by the Flag!--all doubt and treason scorning--
Believe, with courage firm, and faith sublime,
That it will float until the eternal morning
Pales, in its glories, all the lights of time!
