The flag of the South.
Dedicated to the defenders of Charleston harbor.
‘ The Seven-Starred Banner, unfurl to the breeze!
It proudly shall float o'er the land, o'er the seas!
The hands that have reared it are free from a stain.
And woe to the coward that would sully its name!
On the broad plains of Texas--on Florida's shore;
Where dark Moultrie lists to the ocean's wild roar,
The chieftain is gathering his true-hearted band,
To die in the cause of their dear native land!
When the sons of the South, in that terrible day,
Shall meet the stern foemen in battle array.
This flag o'er the dark field shall gloriously stream.
And Victory illume its bright folds with her beam.
On blue mountain tops — in the valleys below--
While Southern hearts throb, or there still lives a foe,
We'll throw it abroad to the Heaven's free air,
And brave hearts beneath it shall never despair!
No! never despair; for its course shall be, on!
Outstripping the eagle's, and bright as the sun!
Long ages shall sing of its glorious birth,
In that gloomy night, which proved Southerners' worth.
The Tyrant's full pow'r to the dust twill consign;
Its stars shall win glory wherever they shine,
And the land it waves over still, still shall be free.
While the blue waters cover the depths of the sea!
April 3d, 1861.
’
