Up from the
meadows rich with corn,
Clear in the cool September morn,
The clustered
spires of Frederick stand
Green-walled by the hills of Maryland.
Round
about them orchards sweep,
Apple and peach trees fruited deep,
Fair
as the garden of the Lord
to the eyes of the famished rebel horde,
On
that pleasant morn of the early fall
When Lee marched over the mountain-wall;
Over
the mountains winding down,
Horse and foot, into Frederick town.
Forty
flags with their silver stars,
Forty flags with their crimson bars,
Flapped in the morning wind; the sun
Of noon looked down, and saw not one.
Up
rose old Barbara Frietchie then,
Bowed with her fourscore years and ten;
Bravest of all in Frederick town,
She took up the flag the men hauled down;
In her
attic window the staff she set,
To show that one heart was loyal yet.
Up the
street came the rebel tread,
Stonewall Jackson riding ahead.
Under
his slouched hat left and right
He glanced; the old flag met his sight.
"Halt!" the dust-brown ranks stood fast.
"Fire!" out blazed the rifle-blast.
It
shivered the window, pane and sash;
It rent the banner with seam and gash.
Quick,
as it fell, from the broken staff
Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf.
She
leaned far out on the window-sill,
And shook it forth with a royal will.
"Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,
But spare your country's flag," she said.
A
shade of sadness, a blush of shame,
Over the face of the leader came;
The
nobler nature within him stirred
To life at that woman's deed and word;
"Who
touches a hair of yon gray head
Dies like a dog! March on!" he said.
All
day long through Frederick street
Sounded the tread of marching feet:
All
day long that free flag tost
Over the heads of the rebel host.
Ever
its torn folds rose and fell
On the loyal winds that loved it well;
And
through the hill-gaps sunset light
shone over it with a warm good-night.
Barbara Frietchie's work is o'er,
and the Rebel rides on his raids no more.
Honor
to her! And let a tear
Fall, for her sake, on Stonewall's bier.
Over
Barbara Frietchie's grave,
Flag of Freedom and Union, wave!
Peace
and order and beauty draw
Round thy symbol of light and law;
And
ever the stars above look down
On thy stars below in Frederick town!
