"She called for the blood of our king, And straight from his prison we drew him; And to her with shouting we led him, And took him, and bound him, and slew him. The monarchs of Europe against me Have plotted a godless alliance; I'll fling them the head of King Louis,' "I see him as now, for a moment, Away from his jailers he broke, And stood at the foot of the scaffold, And lingered, and fain would have spoke. Ho, drummer! quick! silence yon Capet,' Says Santerre,' with a beat of your drum;' Lustily then did I tap it, And the son of St. Louis was dumb." PART II. "THE glorious days of September Saw many aristocrats fall; 'Twas then that our pikes drunk the blood, In the beautiful breast of Lamballe. Pardi, 'twas a beautiful lady! I seldom have looked on her like; "Let's show the pale head to the queen, We said she'll remember it well; She looked from the bars of her prison, We set up a shout at her screaming, We laughed at the fright she had shown At the sight of the head of her minion; How she'd tremble to part with her own! "We had taken the head of King Capet, We called for the blood of his wife ; Undaunted she came to the scaffold, And bared her fair neck to the knife. As she felt the foul fingers that touched her, She shrunk, but she deigned not to speak, She looked with a royal disdain, And died with a blush on her cheek! "'Twas thus that our country was saved; I loathed to assist at such deeds, And my drum beat its loudest of tunes As we offered to justice offended The blood of the bloody tribunes. Away with such foul recollections! No more of the axe and the block; I saw the last fight of the sections, As they fell 'neath our guns at Saint Rock. I followed my gallant young captain, “We came to an army in rags, Our general was but a boy, When we first saw the Austrian flags Flaunt proud in the fields of Savoy. We marched to the banks of the Po; In triumph we entered Milan, And the Pope he fell down on his knees."Pierre's comrades here called a fresh bottle, And clubbing together their wealth, They drank to the Army of Italy, The drummer now bared his old breast, In fifty victorious wars. "This came when I followed bold Kleber 'Twas shot by a Mameluke gun; And this from an Austrian sabre, When the field of Marengo was won. "My forehead has many deep furrows, Beside the fair river of Saal. This cross, 'twas the Emperor gave it ; (God bless him!) it covers a blow; I had it at Austerlitz fight, As I beat on my drum in the snow. "'Twas thus that we conquered and fought; But wherefore continue the story? There's never a baby in France But has heard of our chief and our glory, — But has heard of our chief and our fame, His sorrows and triumphs can tell, How bravely Napoleon conquered, How bravely and sadly he fell. "It makes my old heart to beat higher, His story of twenty brave years; Rude comments of curses and tears. |