The moon seems to shine just as brightly as then, Then drawing his sleeve roughly over his eyes, He passes the fountain, the blasted pine tree- Yet onward he goes, through the broad belt of light, All quiet along the Potomac to-night, No sound save the rush of the river; THE BOATMAN'S SONG By GENERAL WILLIAM ORLANDO BUTLER. [General Lew Wallace, in his recently published Autobiography, mentions this as one of his favorite poems. A life of General Butler (1793-1880), "the Kentucky soldier-poet," was written by Francis Preston Blair, Sr., in 1848, the year in which General Butler was a democratic candidate for Vice-President.] O boatman! wind that horn again, So wild, so soft, so sweet a strain! By every simple boatman blown, Yet is each pulse to nature true, I've loitered on my homeward way By wild Ohio's bank of flowers; While some lone boatman from the deck Poured his soft numbers to the tide, As if to charm from storm and wreck The boat where all his fortunes ride. Delighted, Nature drank the sound, To catch the sounds far off, yet dear— And can he now, to manhood grown, As on the ravished ear they fell, Bound every sense in magic spell? Then, boatman, wind that horn again; THE BONNIE BLUE FLAG By HARRY McCARTHY [Like "Dixie," this famous song originated in the theater and first became popular in New Orleans. The tune was borrowed from "The Irish Jaunting Car," a popular Hibernian air. Harry McCarthy was an Irishman who enlisted in the Confederate Army from Arkansas, The song was written in 1861. It was published by A. E. Blackmar who declared that General Ben Butler "made it very profitable by fining every man, woman, or child who sang, whistled, or played it on any instrument, $25." Blackmar was arrested, his music destroyed, and a fine of $500 imposed upon him.] We are a band of brothers, and native to the soil, And when our rights were threatened, the cry rose near and far: Hurrah for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a Single Star! CHORUS: Hurrah! Hurrah! for Southern rights, Hurrah! As long as the Union was faithful to her trust, But now when Northern treachery attempts our rights to mar, We hoist on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a Single Star. First gallant South Carolina nobly made the stand; Next, quickly Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida, [CHORUS.] All raised on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a Single Star. [CHORUS.] Ye men of valor, gather round the banner of the right, Davis, our loved President, and Stephens, statesman rare, And here's to brave Virginia! The Old Dominion State Then cheer, boys, cheer, raise the joyous shout, For Arkansas and North Carolina now have both gone out; And let another rousing cheer for Tennessee be given— The Single Star of the Bonnie Blue Flag has grown to be eleven. [CHORUS.] Then, here's to our Confederacy; strong we are and brave, Like patriots of old we'll fight our heritage to save; And rather than submit to shame, to die we would preferSo cheer again for the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears a Single Star! CHORUS: Hurrah! Hurrah! for Southern rights, Hurrah! Hurrah! for the Bonnie Blue Flag has gained the Eleventh Star. THE BOY SOLDIER By A LADY OF SAVANNAH He is acting o'er the battle, O'er his boyish locks of brown. And I sit beside him sewing, Still a deep, deep well of feeling, I would speed him to the battle- For his country's wrong and right! Oh! I know there'd be a struggle, |