God lives! He forged the iron will
That clutched and held that trembling hill.
God lives and reigns! He built and lent
The heights for Freedom s battlement
Where floats her flag in triumph still!
Fold up the banners! Smelt the guns!
Love rules. Her gentler purpose runs.
A mighty mother turns in tears
The pages of her battle years,
Lamenting all her fallen sons!
SAMUEL MINTURN PECK
[Samuel Minturn Peck was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 1854. After graduating from the University of Alabama he studied medicine in New York. He began writing about his twenty-fifth year, and has collected his poems into several volumes published at various inter vals. He has also written stories collected under the title "Alabama Sketches."] A SOUTHERN GIRL 1 Her dimpled cheeks are pale; She s a lily of the vale, Not a rose. In a muslin or a lawn She is fairer than the dawn To her beaux. Her boots are slim and neat, She is vain about her feet It is said. 1 The selections from Samuel Minturn Peck are here reprinted through the permission of the holder of the copyright, Frederick A. Stokes Company.
