DEDICATORY POEM.

The following verses were recited at the dedication of the Fireman's Monument in Elmwood Cemetery on the 18th day of April, 1870. The address was delivered by Captain John' S. Tucker, and the services conducted by the Rev. O. S. Barten, Rector of Christ Church. Captain Lakin, the hero of the piece, was by birth a Northern man, by adoption a Virginian, and by baptism in the fire of battle for the Lost Cause one of the great army of heroes who alas! have but too rarely monuments, or commemoration among us.

I.

These marble urns-these sculptured forms of stone
Scattered so freely through this silent yard.

Speak with drear eloquence, and have a tone
To touch the hearts of people and of Bard.

Aye, they are preachers! Every separate sod
Hath its own sermon, sad, and stern and brief-
Each tells man mortal-each declares a God,
And speaks of Hope amid the signs of grief.

Men build up monuments to honor those

Whom living they have loved, and Poets hymn
How brave men oft have honored their brave foes-
Moore at Corunna had this done for him.

And in this city of the silent dead—

Within the walls of this NecropolisYou've bared to-day yon column's lofty head To honor those whom from your ranks

you miss.

Long is the list. The names but little known,
Save in a narrow circle where they still
Are loved by those who claim them as their own;
Enshrined in hearts which time can never chill.

II.

But not alone amid the pomp of Kings,

The show of Courts, or rich-pavilioned Camp,

Do we find worth. Great Burns was right, who sings, The man's the "gowd;" the rank's the "guinea's stamp.'

Unknown to fame the various names may be,
Cut in this marble, but we, living, trust,
That from the tumult of this life set free,

They sleep as well as any royal dust.

III.

Good men and true they were,

And when on the midnight air

Rose the wild, appalling cry, Rising high and rising higher;

And the flames lit up the sky

With a ruddy, crimson dye From the fire.

Then you saw what men they were—

Then you saw them do and dare!

IV.

Cold and bitter was the night,

All the town was wrapped in sleep.

First was seen a little light,

Broad it grew and wide and deep,

And a billowy, great cloud

Mounted high and mounted higher,

Like a luminous red shroud-

Then the awful cry of-Fire!

V.

And you heard the bells ring out,

And the watchman spring his rattle,

And you heard a mighty shout,

For, like steeds that rush to battle,

All the firemen were out.

Then you saw what men they were,
Then you saw them do and dare,

When with helm and trump they came

To do battle with the flame;

And their courage mounted higher

With the spreading of the Fire!

Hear the rafters tumble in

With a sudden, horrid din!

Now the minutes seem like hours,

While the sparks fall in red showers-

Ever falling down, down, down,

With a threat to all the town.

See, yonder on that roof
Where a fireman risks his life,

Putting fortune to the proof
As this awful midnight strife

Rises higher!

Will he hold on, think you, friends?

Yes; thank God! he puts it out.

Now the hero turns about

And descends.

And behold again he goes

To fight those cruel foes,

Those undulating billows of the Fire!

VI.

Where saw you greater dash?

Where saw you men more rash?

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