Embraced by home, his soul grew light;
And though he moaned: “My head! my head!”
His life turned back its outward flight,
Like his, who, from the prophet's bed,
Startled the wondering Shunammite.
He greeted all with tender speech;
He told his children he should die;
He gave his fond farewell to each,
With messages, and fond good-by
To all he loved beyond his reach.
And then he spoke her brother's name:
“Tell him,” he said, “that, in my death,
I cherished his untarnished fame,
And, to my life's expiring breath,
Held his brave spirit free from blame.
“We strove alike for truth's behoof,
With honest faith and love sincere,—
For God and-country, right and roof,
And issues that do not appear;
But wait with Heaven the awful proof.”
A tottering figure reached the door;
The brother fell upon the bed,
And, in each other's arms once more,
With breast to breast, and head to head,—
Twin barks, they drifted from the shore;
And backward on the sobbing air
Came the same words from warring lips:
“God save my country!” and the prayer
Still wailing from the drifting ships,
Returned in measures of despair;
Till far, at the horizon's verge,
They passed beyond the tearful eyes
That could not know if in the surge
They sank at last, or in the skies
Forgot the burden of their dirge!