Lesson 238: Sentinel Songs - "Harps Are In Every Land"
Abraham Joseph Ryan, Chaplain, CSA
Chapter I II III IVV But harps are in every land That await a voice that sings, And a master-hand -- but the humblest hand May gently touch its strings. I sing with a voice too low To be heard beyond to-day, In minor keys of my people's woe, But my songs pass away. To-morrow hears them not -- To-morrow belongs to Fame -- My songs, like the birds', will be forgot, And forgotten shall be my name. And yet who knows? Betimes The grandest songs depart, While the gentle, humble, and low-toned rhymes Will echo from heart to heart. But, oh! if in song or speech, In major or minor key, My voice could over the ages reach, I would whisper the name of Lee. In the night of our defeat Star after star had gone, But the way was bright to our soldiers' feet Where the star of Lee led on. But sudden there came a cloud, Out rung a nation's knell; Our cause was wrapped in its winding shroud, All fell when the great Lee fell. From his men, with scarce a word, Silence when great hearts part! But we know he sheathed his stainless sword In the wound of a broken heart. He fled from Fame; but Fame Sought him in his retreat, Demanding for the world one name Made deathless by defeat. Nay, Fame! success is best! All lost! and nothing won: North, keep the clouds that flush the West, We have the sinking sun. All lost! but by the graves Where martyred heroes rest, He wins the most who honor saves -- Success is not the test. All lost! a nation weeps; By all the tears that fall, He loses naught who conscience keeps, Lee's honor saves us all. All lost! but e'en defeat Hath triumphs of her own, Wrong's paean hath no note so sweet As trampled Right's proud moan. The world shall yet decide, In truth's clear, far-off light, That the soldiers who wore the gray, and died With Lee, were in the right. And men, by time made wise, Shall in the future see No name hath risen, or ever shall rise, Like the name of Robert Lee. Ah, me! my words are weak, This task surpasses me; Dead soldiers! rise from your graves and speak, And tell how you loved Lee. The banner you bore is furled, And the gray is faded, too! But in all the colors that deck the world Your gray blends not with blue. The colors are far apart, Graves sever them in twain; The Northern heart and the Southern heart May beat in peace again; But still till time's last day, Whatever lips may plight, The blue is blue, but the gray is gray, Wrong never accords with Right. Go, Glory! and forever guard Our chieftain's hallowed dust; And Honor! keep eternal ward! And Fame! be this thy trust! Go! with your bright emblazoned scroll And tell the years to be, The first of names that flash your roll Is ours -- great Robert Lee. Lee wore the gray! since then 'Tis Right's and Honor's hue! He honored it, that man of men, And wrapped it round the true. Dead! but his spirit breathes! Dead! but his heart is ours! Dead! but his sunny and sad land wreathes His crown with tears for flowers. A statue for his tomb! Mould it of marble white! For Wrong, a spectre of death and doom; An angel of hope for Right. But Lee has a thousand graves In a thousand hearts, I ween; And teardrops fall from our eyes in waves That will keep his memory green. Ah! Muse, you dare not claim A nobler man than he, Nor nobler man hath less of blame, Nor blameless man hath purer name, Nor purer name hath grander fame, Nor fame -- another Lee. * * * * *
Reflection on the Sentinel Song - Chapter V
Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In this last chapter of Chaplain Ryan's Song of a Sentinel, we see how the men of the South regarded their military chief, General Robert E. Lee. Ryan reflects here not only his personal respect for the mythical giant of the Army of the Confederacy, but that of most every one of its veterans.
Lee symbolizes the ideal character of the Confederate: noble, blameless, pure, righteous, and ultimately, in the Right with God in defending his home from invasion against the Wrong of the invader. He points out that it is fact and not subject to change over time. Lee becomes something more than the stalwart soldier and general. He is elevated at once to a type of sainthood. I've heard critics of the South speak sarcastically of our admiration of and adoration toward the memory of men like Stewart, Lee, Jackson, Polk, and many others. I will not deny that we do enshrine them; these men, and particularly Lee, who we have casted in something grander beyond themselves. They have become for us symbolic of a nations pride in the wake of a great loss. They have become symbols of our faith that even in defeat, our Righteous ancestors were and yet are victorious, for, if nothing else, their struggle for the Cause of freedom from tyranny.
Deo Vindice
ps. Thanks to our own David Chaltas who helps to keep the legend and spirit of Lee alive in the South.
Deo vindice
The Reverend Mark Carroll,
Colonel Ben Caudill Camp
Seventh Sunday after Trinity, MMIX
Editor's note: This is another of the series of passages that continue Ryan's "Sentinel Song". Previous sections are on our Chaplain's Page of lessons under Chaplain Ryan's name. One should take this not as a secular song/poem, but indeed, one of profound religious tone. The Reverend Ryan was born in 1838 in Norfolk, Virginia. He was ordained a Roman Catholic Priest on All Saints Day, (Nov 1) 1856, and enlisted as a Chaplain, CSA, September 1, 1862. He served throughout the war as a chaplain. After the war he founded and served as editor of the Banner of the South, in Augusta, Georgia. He also served as a parish priest in many southern cities. Book here. I plan to include the rest of the passages from this Song and other works of Chaplain Ryan from time to time - on separate Sundays, as circumstances permit. Coming from a man who saw the Southron brave fall first hand, and offered continual prayers for them, one cannot easily pass over these words.
Deo Vindice.