Page:Poems Hoffman.djvu/116

THE BUGLE AND THE BATTLE

Clear are the bugle tones and sweet
That the ether waves of the sky repeat,
Harsh is the battle's roar and din
That the stern hills echo back again.

Bugle, sweet bugle, the bard of fame
With his deathless song has linked thy name
And thy silver tones like echoes play
Through the humble minstrel's sweetest lay.

Battle, stern battle, on history's page
Thy hosts in perpetual conflict rage,
In heroic song is thy glory told,
From age to age is thy discord rolled.

Peace spreads out her wings o'er our land afar
She has hushed the blood-chilling clang of war,
But the battle of life goes on around
Though the cannon's voice is no dreaded sound.

There is discord and danger in human life
But listen, blent with its toil and strife
There are beautiful notes that rise and fall
In heavenly harmony through it all.

Life has its battle, its toilsome fight
Where the wrong oft triumphs, o'er the right,
Where the strong and the brave to their foemen yield
And the fallen are strewn o'er the fiery field.

Life has its struggle, its march of toil
Where opposing forces brave effort foil,
Where the harsh discordant notes of strife
Are heard on the battle ground of life.

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