Impromtu(sic) Lines by W. T. Weller
The following lines by W. T. Wellr(sic) were written on the Hastings cliff while the cannons were being fired to celebrate the successful assault on Sebastopol. [An apology is here offered for the liberty which has been taken to revise the same.]
“Sebastopol is taken. Cheer, boys, Cheer!
Would that the Russian Czar had lived to hear
The welcome tidings, and remained to know
His own ambitious schemes had caused the blow!
Then when his giant fortresses had crumbled
Would not that his hauty pride had humbled?
But now, as Nicholas is dead and gone,
It useless seems to speculate upon
What, after this his feelings might have been;
Enough, that his successor will have seen
That serfdom, even at its very best,
Must strike its flag to soldiers of the west.
Still linked with Inkermann’s and Alma’s name,
And Balaklava’s is Britannia’s fame;
And now those words ‘Sebastopol is taken’,
The Muscovite’s security has shaken.
Exult we then, although with chastened pride,
That victory has come to England’s side.
The ‘God of Battles’ has once more decreed
That in fair fight Britannia takes the lead.
The question is, will Russia sue for peace?
Or will defeat her recklessness increase?
If obstinate, more gallant men must die –
More widows mourn – more guileless orphans cry.
One thing, however, seemingly is certain –
The latest victory removes the curtain
Of Russia’s prestige, for she’s made to yield
To us and our allies by sea and field.
‘Twill, peradventure, cause, at any rate,
Two Continental pow’rs to hesitate –
Id est, the Austrian and Prussian States –
Before becoming Russia’s fighting mates.
In that alone a moral view is gained,
Which scarce could be while Russia’s flag remained
To still be flaunting its defiant roll
On frowning bastions of Sebastopol.
