FRANKLIN - NOTES ON THE WAR pp.13-15

Who draws the sword, in righteous cause,

Deserves indeed our warm applause;

To aid the weak and check the strong

Is worthy of the poets song.

The Crescent and the Cross unite

As means to keep the balance right;

NAPOLEON strove with all his power

To shield from war the threatened hour.

VICTORIA too, our gracious Queen,

Whose reign had long so peaceful been,

This happy state to still maintain

Tried every effort, but in vain.

Ev'n men of peace were led to roam

Far from their country and their home;

The mighty, unrelenting CZAR,

Left no alternative but war!

And now the conquering heroes go,

To scenes of triumph and of woe,

Remembrance wakes a varied strain,

From feats on Balaklava's plain.

How well our small embattled throng

Oppos'd LAPRANDI's hosts so strong,

When heavy horse in their advance

Drove back the Cossacks quivering lance;

Where brave SIR COLIN, warrior bred,

The Russians checked with lines of red.

Each scene was splendid, bright and gay,

Achievements worthy of the day!

Now turn we to that mournful part,

The loss of many a British heart —

Where CARDIGAN, the great, the brave,

With MAXSE rode their lives to save;

Where valiant GORDON doomed to bleed,

With SHEWILL, each on gallant steed,

Were saved - and WOMBWELL, if the least,

All famed survivors from the East,

Whose names like household words shall stand

The pride and glory of our land.

In fancy's eye, with mental pain

We view them on embattled plain;

In dread array, as on they ride,

Assail'd from heights on either side,

With rifle balls, with shot and shell -

Alas! from these what numbers fell;

In front were flaming mouths that spread

Their path with dying and the dead.

When these were past, in threes about,

They cut through foes their homeward route.

Oh! what a scene for human eye,

They pass the dead and wounded by,

Where man and horse from deadly blow

Lay prostrate on the earth below.

Oh! what dread ground to travel o'er

To reach their gallant friends once more;

Yet saved from contest so severe,

They still returned with thrilling cheer!

Here think of NOLAN's hapless fate,

With awful message borne too late —

If pride or rashness fir'd his brain,

His blood was foremost on the plain.

Oh! mourn for NOLAN, truly brave,

Who filled too soon a soldier's grave.

Most fatal charge in glory's train,

Sublime from peril and from pain —

All must admire those hearts of steel,

Their prompt obedience, courage, zeal,

For martial deeds in truth exclaim

No higher on the lists of fame.

[PB: In footnotes, Franklin elaborates some of the surnames slightly: "Sir Colin Campbell; Earl of Cardigan; Maxse, Aide-de-Camp to Earl of Cardigan; Capt. Sir Wm. Gordon, 17th Lancers; Colonel Shewill [Shewell], 8th Hussars; Cornet Wombwell, 17th Lancers; Captain Nolan, 15th Hussars."]