The Fourth of June.
The fourth of June ! the fourth of June !1
Methinks, in careless boyhood’s reign,2
I hear the loud bell’s festal tune,3
And cannon’s peal again ;4
Methinks from tower and battlement5
I see St. George’s standard fly,6
And smoke from many a bonfire sent7
Up through the clear blue sky !8
The fourth of June ! the fourth of June !9
What loyal mirth ’t was thine to bring !10
A nation’s hearts in unison11
Beat for their loved old king :12
Healths from a million cups were pour’d,13
By old and young, by high and low ;14
Defence to Britain from each sword,15
Defiance to each foe !16
The fourth of June ! the fourth of June !17
Still do I see, in all their glow,18
The bright flowers wreathed in wild festoon—19
The rockets that to heaven did go—20
The glad huzzaing of the crowd—21
The snaky squibs that rose and sunk—22
The musket peals that thrice aloud23
Boom’d when the health was drunk !24
The fourth of June ! the fourth of June !25
Thou day that for so long wert bright,26
At length a cloud came o’er thy noon,27
Time touch’d thee with his blight :28
Thy morn awoke not with the peal.29
Of cannon or of merry bell ;30
The sire, who loved his people’s weal,31
In death had ta’en farewell.32
The fourth of June ! the fourth of June !33
Thou sunniest spot in childhood’s year,34
The sound brings, like a sweet loved tune,35
To memory’s eye a tear ;36
And when I think of what hath been,37
And what on earth no more may be,38
I mourn o’er many a happy scene39
Once duly brought by thee !40