Laura Secord, the heroine of 1812: A Drama; and Other Poems

_Orphea (in tears)_.--Oh, Kate! it struck me so to see you once again as you were wont to be; those nasty ugly pants forever gone, and you a girl again.

_Fitzgibbon_. And I but thirty. Too few to fight such force In open field. But Boerstler's lost his head: Deluded by our calls, your fierce attack, And Indian fighting--which to...

parlour, with folding doors which now stand a little apart. A sentry is visible, on the other side of them. The parlour windows are barricaded within, but are set open, and a br...

_Widow_. 'Tis pitiful to see one's land go waste For want of labour, and the summer days, So rich in blessing, spend their fruitful force On barren furrows. And then to think Th...

_Mrs. Secord_. How quiet are the woods! The choir of birds that daily ushers in The rosy dawn with bursts of melody, And swells the joyful train that waits upon The footsteps of...

John Penn, a Quaker, _is seated on a chair tilted against the wall_. Mr. Secord, _his arm in a sling, reclines on a couch, against the end of which a crutch is is placed_. Mrs....

_Mr. Secord_. I did but ramble through the pasture, dear, And round the orchard. 'Twas so sweet and still. Save for the echo of the sentry's tread O'er the hard road, it might h...

_Kate (in much indignation)_. Refused! I knew it! The crass ingratitude of haughty man, Vested in all the pride of place and power, Brooks not the aspirations of my sex, However...

_Mrs. Secord_. Then will you taste a woman's common lot In times of strait, while I essay man's role Of fierce activity. We will compare When I return. Now, fare-thee-well, my h...

_Mrs. Secord_. This spot is surely safe; here I will rest, For unaccustomed service tires my limbs, And I have travelled many a weary rood More than a crow-line measures; ups an...

Ah--ladies and gentlemen, here's to our host, And rising, as thus, to propose him a toast, I think of the days which together In shade, and in sunshine, as chums we have passed,...

"My Dearest Orphea--Congratulate me! me, your cousin, Tom Christopher, M.A., Gold Medallist.--Mathematics, and also Natural Sciences; Honours in Classics, and Prizeman in German...

illuminate the tops of the trees, while all below is dark and gloomy. Bats are on the wing, the night-hawk careers above the trees, fire-flies flit about, and the death-bird cal...

After a weary day the evening falls With gentle benison of peace and rest. The deep'ning dusk draws, like a curtain, round, And gives the soul a twilight of its own; A soft, swe...

_Kate_. And always mind and keep my room, My time and liberty, intact, and so You'll make it easier for me to obtain By surreptitious means, the rights I should Enjoy in happier...

_Kate_. Not let me in! We'll see. I'll beat 'em yet. To think that down in Canterbury, girls, Like my poor self, have had the badge bestowed That I so fondly covet. To think tha...

_Kate_. A deed without a name! A deed will waken me at dead of night! A deed whose stony face will stare at me With vile grimace, and freeze my curdling blood! Will make me quak...

_Mrs. Secord_ (_looking in the direction of her home_). Gone! Gone! Quite out of sight! Farewell, my home, Casket that holds my jewels! If no more My happy eyes rest on thy lowl...