bodymatter z3998:non-fiction">
Virtues of a Diamond Ring
Of the strange virtues of a ring,
In simple strains we now will sing,
Brave warrior of ancient France,
Where danger was he did advance.
But he at last was struck by ball
And on the battle field did fall,
They dug for him a shallow grave
And slightly cover’d warrior brave.
But his servant man with warm heart,
Loathed with his master thus to part,
So he moved soil from where he lay
And found a lump of lifeless clay.
He turned away in sad despair,
That could not be his master fair,
That famed brave youth of noble birth,
Now all stained o’er with blood and earth.
As he begins to move away
The moon reflects on brilliant ray,
From diamond ring on dead man’s finger
The servant now doth fondly linger.
For he knows it’s his master’s ring,
And hopes to life he may him bring,
In finger he discovers heat
And hopes his heart it still may beat.
Though surgeons they pronounce him dead,
For long he bathes his breast and head,
And slowly master did restore
To fight more brave than he had before.
And now this tale to close we bring,
Of warrior saved by a ring,
Full oft again to fight for king,
His praise his countrymen they sing.
Child Saved by Dog
Johnston he is an engineer,
He always looks if track is clear,
For he hath a keen eagle eye,
Danger afar he doth espy.
And he hath too a warm true heart,
Of others woes he shares a part;
One day he gazed far down the line,
And a large dog he could define.
So eager busy on the track,
In mouth it seemed to lift a pack,
But it oftentimes did fail
For to raise it o’er the rail.
The engineer put on his steam
And he loud made his whistle scream,
So that the dog would take alarm
And thus preserve his life from harm.
This noble dog, it feared not danger,
Fear to him it was a stranger,
His mistress child he wished to save,
And all the danger he would brave.
His last great effort did prevail,
He raised it safe beyond the rail,
Into a snug and hollow spot,
A place seem’d formed for a child’s cot.
This dog of noble mastiff breed,
For his own safety took no heed,
But at approaching train did bark,
To make them to his troubles hark.
The engineer did sad bewail,
To see the dog still on the rail,
A moment more the beast is slain,
Cut in two by the cruel train.
The engineer now shuts off steam
For to investigate the theme,
That caused the dog to die at post,
Finds to save child its life it lost.
Faithful in the cause of duty,
Saving life of little beauty,
A little darling three year old,
More precious than her weight in gold.
On track she wandered for to play,
But soon she in quiet slumber lay,
And all the efforts of old Towser,
Were not able to arouse her.
The mother now in agony wild,
Rushed down to train to find her child,
There she found it sweetly sleeping,
While some for faithful dog were weeping.
And a brave man was engineer,
For he himself knew not of fear,
But his heart was filled with pain,
Because the noble dog was slain.
Leach the Engineer
The engineer who drives the train,
From scalds he oft doth suffer pain,
And they are more noble scars,
Than hirelings gain in foreign wars.
Our hero’s name should live forever,
Train wrecked in Columbia River,
And fatal scalded was Frank Leach,
In mid the river far from beach.
Heroic deed it should be sung.
Though his flesh in ribbons hung,
He saw a man who could not swim,
And he resolved to rescue him.
And success his efforts crowned,
He saved the man from being drowned,
For him upon his back he bore,
And boldly swam with him to shore.
Heroic deed we now enroll,
And grave it deep on fame’s scroll,
For this great truth we wish to teach,
High ’mong our heroes ranks Frank Leach.
When he had but short time to live,
His strength and skill he both did give,
His poor fellow man to save,
From laying in a watery grave.
The heroes oft in days of old,
Were those who hired to fight for gold,
But the true heroes we revere
Doth fight for home and country dear.
Jackal and Child
In the great Province of Bengal,
The scavenger is the Jackal,
For it doth love each night to feast,
On the carrion of some beast.
The stench of which pollutes the air,
But to this beast ’tis sweet and fair,
Carcass to it is source of wealth,
Jackals promote the public health.
When the “Seapoys” did rebel,
A strange adventure child befell,
An English Colonel and his wife,
They thought still distant was the strife.
And left their little girl at home,
While they to distant village roam;
And thus saved their lives from slaughter,
But rebels carried off their daughter.
Their servant woman, a Hindu,
They knew her to be kind and true,
It almost drove her crazy wild,
To see them dragging off the child.
The Colonel soon he doth return,
And in his breast fierce rage doth burn,
He knows the child is doomed to die,
But he the rebels will defy.
So quick he doth gird on his sword,
And asks for blessings from the Lord,
He puts his pistols in their case,
And carries with him trusty brace.
Seapoys by the river side
Left child to drown in rising tide,
But Jackal went there for water,
And spied the Colonel’s daughter.
He knew the river soon would rise,
So quick he carried off the prize,
Though love for child he does not feel,
He only wants her for a meal.
He ran with her towards the south,
Carrying her in his broad mouth,
The Colonel had a strong desire
On this savage beast for to fire.
But from it he refrained for fear
The ball might strike his little dear,
He saw that brute was now weary
Running with his little dearie.
So he then quickly gave it chase,
And full soon then he gained the race,
The coward beast then dropped the child
And fled away in terror wild.
With joy Colonel he doth weep
When he finds babe is still asleep,
And on it neither scar nor trace
Can disfigure its fair face.
And now he takes it in his arms,
With joy and pride surveys its charms,
We fear that kisses did it smother
When he handed it to mother.
Little Hero
’Mong silver hills of Nevada
There is many a wild bravado,
Who oft indulge in lawless vice,
And there are pearls of great
