A WOMAN'S WAR SONG. BY EDWARD KING.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1613, 4 November 1882, Page 2 (Supplement)

A WOMAN'S WAR SONG. BY EDWARD KING.

Oh, Emperor ! great Emperor ! Your cruel trumpets cry for war ! Ta rantara tantara tantara ! The wheat is nodding in the sun, The haivest work is just begun ; But, mighty Emperor, I hear A clash of sword, a clink of spear ; Down through tho fertile valley comes An echo from the bep.t'ng drums ; And up among the mountains ring Voices of those who riding sing Then hy lo ho ! tho trumpets blow ! The horses go in pacing row Across the bending grasses. Then hy lo ho ! the bugles blow, And what care we for lasses ? Oh, Emperor! great Emperor? Tell me what God made women for ? Ta rantara tantara tantara ! Was it to hear those trumpets play To call our lovers to the fray ? Was it to know the wind-blown rain Falls on our wounded and our slain Where they lie heaped in foreign lands ? Was it in vain to stretch our hands Toward those who will return no more ? May we not curse tho cannon's roar ? Then hy lo ho ! your trumpets blow J The world shall know you hate your foe ; Your splendid army passes — And hy lo ho ! your bugles blow ! And what care you for lasses ? Oh, Emperor ! great Emperor ! Last night I had a visitor ; Ta rantara tantara tantara ! In sleep, I heard the bugles scream ; My lover came to me in dream. In reddish blood his hands were dyed, A gaping wound was in his side. My hearb cried to him, and he said, " I am arisen from the dead ! • Oh, love, forget thy grief and pain And let me sing thee this refrain — Then hy lo ho ! the trumpets blow ! With laurels strew the field of woe Where comrades brave are lying. Then hy lo ho ! the bugles blow ! And soldiers' trade is dying !" — Boston Journal.