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IRISH SONGS AND LTR1CS 147 |
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The colonel owned an O'Brien strain — And the lift of the race made a glow on each face
When they met on the Texan plain; But the man of them all, with the iron will —
Man and soldier from crown to heel; A leader and master in games that kill —
Was soft-voiced Captain " Bucky " O'Neill.
On the watch in the valley or charging .the height,
In a plunge 'cross the steep ravine, San Juan or Las Guasimas, battle or fight,
Or a rush thro' the jungle screen, Where the wave of the war took the battling host
The Rough Riders fronted the storm, And their dead on the rocks of red glory tossed
Amid spray with their life-blood warm. What wonder, then, holding his chivalrous vow
To stoop not, nor crouch not, nor kneel, That Death in hot anger struck full on the brow
Of the dauntless " Bucky " O'Neill.
O battle that tries out the hearts of the strong,
To your test he had answered true, Who bent not his head and balked but at wrong,
Nor murmured what billet he drew. In the cast of the terrible dice of doom
It came fair to his hand as well To mount the high crest where the great laurels bloom,
Or to die at the foot where he fell. And of such are the victors, and these alone
Shall be stamped with the hero seal, And stirrup to stirrup they'll ride to the throne,
From the colonel to "Bucky " O'Neill. |
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