Tecumseh - Act 4, Scene 3
SCENE THIRD. — The S AME .
Enter two O LD M EN of York, separately .
1 ST O LD M AN . Good morrow, friend! a fair and fitting time
To take our airing, and to say farewell.
'Tis here, I think, we bid our friends God-speed,
A waftage, peradventure, to their graves.
2 ND O LD M AN . 'Tis a good cause they die for, if they fall.
By this gray pate, if I were young again,
I would no better journey. Young again!
This hubbub sets old pulses on the bound
As I were in my teens.
Enter a C ITIZEN .
What news afoot?
C ITIZEN . Why everyone's afoot and coming here.
York's citizens are turned to warriors,
And gentle hearts beat high for Canada!
For, as you pass, on every hand you see,
Through the neglected openings of each house —
Through doorways, windows — our Canadian maids
Strained by their parting lovers to their breasts;
And loyal matrons busy round their lords,
Buckling their arms on, or, with tearful eyes,
Kissing them to the war!
1 ST O LD M AN . The volunteers
Will pass this way?
C ITIZEN . Yes, to the beach, and there
Embark for Burlington, whence they will march
To Long Point, taking open boats again
To plough the shallow Erie's treacherous flood.
Such leaky craft as farmers market with:
Rare bottoms, one sou-wester-driven wave.
Would heave against Lake Erie's wall of shore,
And dash to fragments. 'Tis an awful hazard —
A danger which in apprehension lies,
Yet palpable unto the spirit's touch
As earth to finger.
1 ST O LD M AN . Let us hope a calm
May lull this fretful and ill tempered lake
Whilst they ascend.
C ITIZEN . Hark! here our soldiers come.
Enter G ENERAL B ROCK , with his aides , M ACDONELL and G LEGG , N ICHOL , and other Officers, followed by the Volunteers in companies. A concourse of Citizens .
M ACDONELL . Our fellows show the mark of training, sir,
And many, well-in-hand, yet full of fire,
Are burning for distinction.
B ROCK . This is good:
Love of distinction is the fruitful soil
From which brave actions spring; and, superposed
On love of country, these strike deeper root,
And grow to greater greatness. Cry a halt —
A word here — then away!
Ye men of Canada!
Subjects with me of that Imperial Power
Whose liberties are marching round the earth:
I need not urge you now to follow me,
Though what befalls will try your stubborn faith
In the fierce fire and crucible of war.
I need not urge you, who have heard the voice
Of loyalty, and answered to its call.
Who has not read the insults of the foe —
The manifesto of his purposed crimes?
That foe, whose poison-plant, false liberty,
Runs o'er his body politic and kills
Whilst seeming to adorn it, fronts us now!
Threats our poor Province to annihilate,
And should he find the red men by our side —
Poor injured souls, who but defend their own —
Calls black Extermination from its hell
To stalk abroad, and stench your land with slaughter.
These are our weighty arguments for war,
Wherein armed Justice will enclasp her sword,
And sheath it in her bitter adversary;
Wherein we'll turn our bayonet-points to pens,
And write in blood: — Here lies the poor invader:
Or be ourselves struck down by hailing death;
Made stepping-stones for foes to walk upon —
The lifeless gangways to our country's ruin.
For now we look not with the eye of fear;
We reck not if this strange mechanic frame
Stop in an instant in the shock of war.
Our death may build into our country's life,
And failing this, 'twere better still to die
Than live the breathing spoils of infamy.
Then forward for our cause and Canada!
Forward for Britain's Empire — peerless arch
Of Freedom's raising, whose majestic span
Is axis to the world! On, on, my friends!
The task our country sets must we perform —
Wring peace from war, or perish in its storm!
O hark to the voice from the lips of the free!
O hark to the cry from the lakes to the sea!
Arm! arm! the invader is wasting our coasts,
And tainting the air of our land with his hosts,
Arise! then, arise! let us rally and form,
And rush like the torrent, and sweep like the storm,
On the foes of our King, of our country adored,
Of the flag that was lost, but in exile restored!
And whose was the flag? and whose was the soil?
And whose was the exile, the suffering, the toil?
Our Fathers'! who carved in the forest a name,
And left us rich heirs of their freedom and fame.
Oh, dear to our hearts is that flag, and the land
Our Fathers bequeathed — 'tis the work of their hand!
And the soil they redeemed from the woods with renown
The might of their sons will defend for the Crown!
Our hearts are as one, and our spirits are free,
From clime unto clime, and from sea unto sea!
And chaos may come to the States that annoy,
But our Empire united what foe can destroy?
Then away! to the front! march! comrades away!
In the lists of each hour crowd the work of a day!
We will follow our leader to fields far and nigh,
And for Canada fight, and for Canada die!
Enter two O LD M EN of York, separately .
1 ST O LD M AN . Good morrow, friend! a fair and fitting time
To take our airing, and to say farewell.
'Tis here, I think, we bid our friends God-speed,
A waftage, peradventure, to their graves.
2 ND O LD M AN . 'Tis a good cause they die for, if they fall.
By this gray pate, if I were young again,
I would no better journey. Young again!
This hubbub sets old pulses on the bound
As I were in my teens.
Enter a C ITIZEN .
What news afoot?
C ITIZEN . Why everyone's afoot and coming here.
York's citizens are turned to warriors,
And gentle hearts beat high for Canada!
For, as you pass, on every hand you see,
Through the neglected openings of each house —
Through doorways, windows — our Canadian maids
Strained by their parting lovers to their breasts;
And loyal matrons busy round their lords,
Buckling their arms on, or, with tearful eyes,
Kissing them to the war!
1 ST O LD M AN . The volunteers
Will pass this way?
C ITIZEN . Yes, to the beach, and there
Embark for Burlington, whence they will march
To Long Point, taking open boats again
To plough the shallow Erie's treacherous flood.
Such leaky craft as farmers market with:
Rare bottoms, one sou-wester-driven wave.
Would heave against Lake Erie's wall of shore,
And dash to fragments. 'Tis an awful hazard —
A danger which in apprehension lies,
Yet palpable unto the spirit's touch
As earth to finger.
1 ST O LD M AN . Let us hope a calm
May lull this fretful and ill tempered lake
Whilst they ascend.
C ITIZEN . Hark! here our soldiers come.
Enter G ENERAL B ROCK , with his aides , M ACDONELL and G LEGG , N ICHOL , and other Officers, followed by the Volunteers in companies. A concourse of Citizens .
M ACDONELL . Our fellows show the mark of training, sir,
And many, well-in-hand, yet full of fire,
Are burning for distinction.
B ROCK . This is good:
Love of distinction is the fruitful soil
From which brave actions spring; and, superposed
On love of country, these strike deeper root,
And grow to greater greatness. Cry a halt —
A word here — then away!
Ye men of Canada!
Subjects with me of that Imperial Power
Whose liberties are marching round the earth:
I need not urge you now to follow me,
Though what befalls will try your stubborn faith
In the fierce fire and crucible of war.
I need not urge you, who have heard the voice
Of loyalty, and answered to its call.
Who has not read the insults of the foe —
The manifesto of his purposed crimes?
That foe, whose poison-plant, false liberty,
Runs o'er his body politic and kills
Whilst seeming to adorn it, fronts us now!
Threats our poor Province to annihilate,
And should he find the red men by our side —
Poor injured souls, who but defend their own —
Calls black Extermination from its hell
To stalk abroad, and stench your land with slaughter.
These are our weighty arguments for war,
Wherein armed Justice will enclasp her sword,
And sheath it in her bitter adversary;
Wherein we'll turn our bayonet-points to pens,
And write in blood: — Here lies the poor invader:
Or be ourselves struck down by hailing death;
Made stepping-stones for foes to walk upon —
The lifeless gangways to our country's ruin.
For now we look not with the eye of fear;
We reck not if this strange mechanic frame
Stop in an instant in the shock of war.
Our death may build into our country's life,
And failing this, 'twere better still to die
Than live the breathing spoils of infamy.
Then forward for our cause and Canada!
Forward for Britain's Empire — peerless arch
Of Freedom's raising, whose majestic span
Is axis to the world! On, on, my friends!
The task our country sets must we perform —
Wring peace from war, or perish in its storm!
O hark to the voice from the lips of the free!
O hark to the cry from the lakes to the sea!
Arm! arm! the invader is wasting our coasts,
And tainting the air of our land with his hosts,
Arise! then, arise! let us rally and form,
And rush like the torrent, and sweep like the storm,
On the foes of our King, of our country adored,
Of the flag that was lost, but in exile restored!
And whose was the flag? and whose was the soil?
And whose was the exile, the suffering, the toil?
Our Fathers'! who carved in the forest a name,
And left us rich heirs of their freedom and fame.
Oh, dear to our hearts is that flag, and the land
Our Fathers bequeathed — 'tis the work of their hand!
And the soil they redeemed from the woods with renown
The might of their sons will defend for the Crown!
Our hearts are as one, and our spirits are free,
From clime unto clime, and from sea unto sea!
And chaos may come to the States that annoy,
But our Empire united what foe can destroy?
Then away! to the front! march! comrades away!
In the lists of each hour crowd the work of a day!
We will follow our leader to fields far and nigh,
And for Canada fight, and for Canada die!
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