Classic Poem

When the Red, White and Blue was lowered before us,
And trailed in the dust by an insolent foe,
When treacherous tongues in their threatening chorus
Avowed it should e'er in dishonor lay low,
The bravest and best
Clasped its folds to their breast,
And swore to uplift it in glory again.
Then foremost were seen
The sons of the Green;
Their hands they had laid on their new country's altar,
Whose freedom had wooed them from Erin away,
In the Army and Navy, ah! when did they falter?
Their praise is well sung on St. Phadrig's Day.

On mount Croagh Phadrig, the saint in whose favor
Each Irish heart struggles to dwell in the while
Spake words of such weight as to banish forever
The plagues that infested his beautiful isle
A careful gleaning
Imparts us the meaning
That vices and wrongs were the evils he fought;
A faint repetition
Of the honored tradition
We recently had in our own favored land,
When the grossest of crimes was wiped quite away
By our " Army and Navy, " which ever will stand
A time-honored toast on St. Phadrig's Day.

Then long wave the Green! it shall float with our colors,
Since 'neath the Old Flag those who loved it have died;
Their hearts were with ours in our season of dolors,
They shall still be with ours in the hour of our pride.
So shall the sweet song
Of triumph belong
To the loyal and leal, be their clime what it will
The Green and the White,
The Blue and the Bright,
Shall harmonize well in their kindred communion,
And flash into light though the morning be gray;
And the " Army and Navy, " the pride of the Union,
Be first on the toasts of St. Phadrig's Day.