  By MAURICE BELL. I In the dusk of the forest shade A sallow and dusty group reclined; Gallops a horseman up the glade— “Where will I your leader find? Tidings I bring from the morning’s scout— I’ve borne them o’er mound and moor and fen.” “Well, sir, stay not hereabout, Here are only a few of ‘the men.’“Here no collar has bar or star, No rich lacing adorns the sleeve; Further on our officers are, Let them your report receive. Higher up on the hill up there, Overlooking this shady glen, There are their quarters—don’t stop here, We are only some of ‘the men.’ “Yet stay, courier, if you bear Tidings that a fight is near; Tell them we’re ready, and that where They wish us to be we’ll soon appear; Tell them only to let us know Where to form our ranks and when; And we’ll teach the vaunting foe That they’ve met with some of ‘the men.’ “We’re the men, though our clothes are worn— We’re the men, though we wear no lace— We’re the men, who the foe have torn, And scattered their ranks in dire disgrace— We’re the men who have triumphed before— We’re the men who will triumph again; For the dust and the smoke and the cannon’s roar, And the clashing bayonets—‘we’re the men.’ “Ye who sneer at the battle-scars, Of garments faded and soiled and bare, Yet who have for the ‘stars and bars’ Praise and homage and dainty fare; Mock the wearers and pass them on, Refuse them kindly word—and then Know if your freedom is ever won By human agents—these are the men!” [Southern.] Banner
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