101. the Chant of treason!
by Henry Bergh.
When suspicion is lulled, when confidence reigns,When daylight departs, and darkness attains;
When innocence sleeps and honor reposes,
When industry rests on its pillow of roses;
When the justice of man is drugged with deceit,
And the plans of the traitor are all complete--
Then — goblet on high,
Hark! to his mad cry:
Hurrah! here's success to bold Treason!
What though that ancient and world-honored State,
Whose laws both protect the small and the great,
That freights every ambient breath of the sea
With tidings of hope to the slave — from the free--
What though its banner, bespangled with stars,
Was woven 'mid blood, privations, and scars--
Well! what's that to me?
Come, join in the glee:
Hurrah! here's success to bold Treason!
In every age and in every clime
I've lived, and shall live, to the end of time!
No country have I, no watchword I cry,
I dwell in the soul, I speak through the eye;
In earth, in the air, in the bubbling stream,
I lurk unsuspected — my sway is supreme!
So, fill up the glass,
And let the toast pass:
Hurrah! here's success to bold Treason!
In places of trust, in the forum I sit;
In the council of state my meshes I knit:
By the side of the nation's honored choice
Is heard my subdued, pestiferous voice;
And the sinews of war — the army and fleet--
Are toys for my genius to work out defeat;
So drink of the bowl,
Without stint or toll:
Hurrah! here's success to bold Treason!
Would'st learn whence I came — the name of my sire?
I'm issue of hell, I'm destruction — dire!
On man's perjured faith, and war's cruel blast,
On the groans of the slave, I make my repast:
In paralyzed trade, in commerce destroyed,
In national ruin, my means are employed.
Then drink, drink, my friends,
The toast Treason sends:
Hurrah! here's success to bold Treason!
But, lo! in ocean's indistinct distance,
What ensigns are those, in hostile resistance?
How, like a monster in pained respiration,
The sea bears them down, concealing their nation!
Now they rise; one is ours--“the skull and cross bars ;”
The other is Freedom's! the proud Stripes and Stars!
Bang! bang! hear the roar!
It sinks — it is o'er!
Hurrah I here's success to bold Treason!
And yet there are times, I frankly declare,
When these triumphs much more resemble despair;
And that flag which we saw just now in the skies,
With memories haunts me — o'erflowing my eyes
And could I return — nay, heed not, I pray,
I wander in mind, knowing not what I say.
Shout! shout! I implore,
Louder still than before!
Hurrah! here's success to bold Treason!
Again yonder flag! sank it not 'neath the main?
Behold, it is up — high as ever again!
What means that acclaim? the plank. spar, and rope!
Great God! they're for me 'tis the death-knell of hope!
Adieu, friends — I choke — I strangle — I die!
Hark, hark! to that deafening, triumphant cry:
Fill, fill to the brim,
Chant Columbia's hymn!
Hurrah! here is death to bold Treason!
--London American, March, 1861.
