The Fight at the San Jacinto
by
John Williamson Palmer (1825-1906) |
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"NOW for a brisk and cheerful fight!"
Said Harman,
big and droll,
As he coaxed his flint and steel for a
light,
And puffed at his cold clay bowl;
"For we are a
skulking lot," says he,
"Of land-thieves hereabout,
And these bold se�ores, two to one,
Have come to smoke us
out."
Santa Anna and Castillon,
Almonte brave and
gay,
Portilla red from Goliad,
And Cos with his smart
array.
Dulces and cigaritos,
And the light guitar,
ting-tum!
Sant' Anna courts siesta,
And Sam Houston
taps his drum.
The buck stands still in the timber�
"Is it patter of nuts that fall?"
The foal of the wild
mare whinnies�
Did he hear the Comanche call?
In the
brake by the crawling bayou
The slinking she-wolves howl;
And the mustang's snort in the river sedge
Has startled
the paddling fowl.
A soft, low tap, and a muffled
tap,
And a roll not loud nor long�
We would not break
Sant' Anna's nap,
Nor spoil Almonte's song.
Saddles
and knives and rifles!
Lord! but the men were glad
When Deaf Smith muttered "Alamo!"
And Karnes hissed
"Goliad!"
The drummer tucked his sticks in his belt,
And the fifer gripped his gun.
Oh, for one free, wild,
Texan yell,
As we took the slope in a run!
But never a
shout nor a shot we spent,
Nor an oath nor a prayer, that
day,
Till we faced the bravos, eye to eye,
And then we
blazed away.
Then we knew the rapture of Ben Milam,
And the glory that Travis made,
With Bowie's lunge, and
Crockett's shot,
And Fannin's dancing blade;
And the
heart of the fighter, bounding free
In his joy so hot and
mad�
When Millard charged for Alamo,
Lamar for Goliad.
Deaf Smith rode straight, with reeking spur,
Into the
shock and rout:
"I 've hacked and burned the bayou
bridge;
There 's no sneak's back-way out!"
Muzzle or
butt for Goliad,
Pistol and blade and fist!
Oh, for
the knife that never glanced,
And the gun that never
missed!
Dulces and cigaritos,
Song and the
mandolin!
That gory swamp is a gruesome grove
To dance
fandangoes in.
We bridged the bog with the sprawling herd
That fell in that frantic rout;
We slew and slew till the
sun set red,
And the Texan star flashed out. |
By John Williamson Palmer (1825-1906)
Listed July 30, 2013This poem is about the Battle of San
Jacinto that resulted
in Texas independence and
eventually joining the USA as
the 28th state in 1945.
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