Rebellion Record: a Diary of American Events: Poetry and Incidents., Volume 2.
Frank Moore, Ed.

121. to arms! to arms!

by Dr. Reynolds,

Respectfully Inscribed to Gen. Van Valkenburgh, the Soldier and the Gentleman.

To arms! to arms! Columbia's foe
     Their banners flaunt on high;
To arms! to arms! and overthrow
     The rebel host, or die;
For more than life we freemen prize
     The blessings freedom gives;
Each hour the trembling coward dies--
     'Tis only courage lives.
chorus — To arms! to arms! &c.

Let cravens yield their struggling breath
     In agony and tears;
Be ours the warrior's glorious death,
     'Midst battle's joys and cheers.
Let others seek a sculptured stone
     In consecrated ground;
Our monument be foes o'erthrown
     Our martyred corpse around.
chorus — To arms! to arms! &c.

Kind Heaven to us in mercy gave
     One worthy of all love,--
Great Washington, the wise and brave,
     A man man's race above; [111]
Immortal as our heroic sage
     Is every law he made;
The earth, the heavens, may fade from age,
     But his laws cannot fade.
chorus — To arms! to arms! &c.

We're born to die-then let us die
     Where glory weaves death's wreath;
On to the fight, our patriots cry--
     To victory or death.
The bayonet thirsts for traitors' gore;
     Bright gleams the patriot's sword;
Place us our country's foe before,
     And give the battle-word.
chorus — To arms! to arms! &c.

A banner o'er our heads we raise,
     Ennobled in past wars;
On it the light of freedom plays
     The glorious Stripes and Stars.
A star may fall from yonder sky,
     Or clouds its lustre mar,
But that broad flag we raise on high
     Must never lose one star.
chorus — To arms! to arms! &c.