The Poetical Writings of Fitz-Greene Halleck/The Nightmare
THE NIGHTMARE.
“Sure he was sent from heaven express to be the pillar of the State;
So terrible his name, ‘Clintonian’ nurses frightened children with it.”
Tom Thumb.
reaming, last night, of Pierre Van Wyck,
I felt the nightmare creeping o’er me;
In vain I strove to speak or strike,
The horrid form was still before me;
Till panting—struggling to be free,
I raised my weak but desperate head,
And faintly muttered “John Targee!”
When—with a howl—the goblin fled.
I waked and cried in glad surprise:
“The man is found ordained by Fate
To break our bonds, and exorcise
The nightmare of the sleeping State.
He’ll chase the demons great and small;
They’ll sink his withering gaze before.
Then rouse! ye Sachems at the Hall,
And nominate him Governor.
“Up with the name on Freedom’s cause,
Inscribe it, Bucktails, on your banner;
Fame’s pewter trump shall sound applause,
And blasts from party’s furnace fan her.
Pledge high his health in mugs of beer,
And, roaring like the boisterous sea,
Thunder in Clinton’s frightened ear,
The conquering name of John Targee!”
D.
