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SOUTHERN POEMS
JOHN PELHAM.
BY JAMES R. RANDALL
Just as the Spring came laughing through the strife,
With all its gorgeous cheer,
In the bright April of historic life
Fell the great cannonier.
The sudden lulling of a hero's breath,
His bleeding country weeps-
Hushed in the alabaster arms of Death,
Our young Marcellus sleeps.
Nobler and grander than the Child of Rome,
Curbing his chariot steeds,
The knightly scion of a Southern home,
Dazzled the land with deeds.
Gentlest and bravest in the battle brunt,
The champion of the Truth,
He bore his banner to the very front
Of our immortal youth,
A clang of sabres 'mid Virginian snow,
The fiery rush of shells---
And there's a wail of immemorial woe
In Alabama dells.
