The RollCall and Other Poems Author:George Johnson General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1876 Original Publisher: J.B. Lippincott Subjects: Centennial Exhibition/ (1876/ Philadelphia, Pa.) Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book ... more »you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: AT WASHINGTON'S CROSSING. O'er the river brightly flowing, O'er the green-shored Delaware, And the landscape golden-glowing, Swept the warm, wide waves of air. 'Twas the teeming time of summer; All the land was full of cheer, Wind and stream in mingled murmur Poured their cool sound on my ear. By an old oak shut and shaded From the vast exterior day, All the present from me faded As upon that shore I lay. 'Twas a classic shore, for yonder, Just across the bright blue tide, Where the heavy train in thunder Rushes by the valley's side, Once a little patriot army Pressed with painful, eager tramp, Through the freezing night and stormy, Toward the sleeping Hessian camp. Aye, a scene rose up before me, Darkly changed from this of light,- Not the summer noon was o'er me, But the frigid winter-night. To essay the perilous crossing Gathered here that hero band. 'Mid the ice their frail boats, tossing, Struggle for the hostile land. Oh, the toil, the cold, the danger ! Freemen, do you think of these ? Do you e'er in fancy change your Homes of peace and beds of ease For the dark and frowning river? For the sore march and the fray ? For the cold whose icy quiver Cuts the glow of life away ? The remembrance fondly cherish Of the men none could enslave, For a nation can but perish That forgets its good and brave. SONG: THE OLD-FASHIONED FIREPLACE. . The old, old-fashioned fireplace ! Ah ! it has had its day, And the old, old-fashioned dwellers, They, too, ...« less