NO rockets flamed in sudden fire, No ringing gladness rocked the spire, No proud salute, o'er field and town, Was loud each lesser sound to drown,— When, on that morning long ago, A fair young mother, spent and low, Heard words so sweet: "God give you joy; The baby is a splendid boy!" Just words, as simple and as sweet As ever fall in soft repeat, Where, after weariness and strain, And speechless ecstasy of pain, In hall or hut, the mother waits, So close to death's unfolding gates, Till thrills her heart the solemn chord, The gift exultant from the Lord, And all her life o'erbrims with joy,— Her man-child born, her baby boy. The wide Virginia fields were green With tender wheat in springing sheen; O'er mountain slopes and valleys fair Hung violet mists in golden air; Coy sap was stirring in the trees, Faint fragrance fluttered through the breeze, And robin trills and bluebirds' notes Came shrilling forth from merry throats; While hushed and happy in her joy The mother looked upon her boy. She dreamed not then of fateful strands That yet should fill those tiny hands; Nor camp, nor foray, nor retreat, Nor flag, nor march, nor stormy beat Of forceful drum, was in her thought, Her mind with gentle pleasure fraught. Not hers to know that many an age Would reap a sacred heritage Because her child, her precious one, Should be his country's noblest son. No grand ambition marred the joy She poured upon her baby boy. To-day, from surf-washed shore to shore, The deep-lipped guns in triumph roar; The bells in stately music swing, The sweet-voiced children laugh and sing; From mast and fort the pennons fly, The silken banners stream on high, And homes and hearts are filled with mirth, Remembering that baby's birth. To-day, who gaze along the years, The finished time of toils and tears, That still in varying peace and strife Have gone to make the nation's life,— Who backward gaze must own the debt We owe our holiest memory yet; For all our best, bequeathed, begun, We needs must honor Washington, Still first among our good and great, The grandest name that stars the state. |