THE VIRGINIANS OF THE VALLEY
by Francis Orray Ticknor
(1822-1874)

The knightliest knights of the knightly race
  Who, since the days of old,
Have kept the lamp of chivalry
  Alight in hearts of gold:
The kindliest of the kindly band
  Who, rarely hating ease,
Yet rode with Spottswood round the land,
  And Raleigh round the seas;

Who climbed the blue Virginia hills
  Against embattled foes,
And planted there, in valleys fair,
  The lily and the rose;
Whose fragrance lives in many lands,
  Whose beauty stars the earth,
And lights the hearths of happy homes
  With loveliness and worth.
  
We thought they slept! the sons who kept
  The names of noble sires,
And slumbered while the darkness crept
  Around their vigil-fires;
But aye the "Golden Horseshoe" Knights
  Their old Dominion keep,
Whose foes have found enchanted ground,
  But not a knight asleep!

The Home Front

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Last modified 16-April-2001