The Song of the Janissary

The Song of the Janissary

Have they trod down the mighty? - By sea and by shore,
Will our name be a watchword and terror no more?
Has the eagle been hurl'd from his throat in the air?
Will the fox find a home in the grim lion's lair?
Have they trod down the mighty? The victors who stood
Resistless when life was pour'd forth like a flood!
The warders of empire! the mates of the brave!
The freeman who hallow'd the land of the slave!


Our name is a scorn, and our sabres are rust,
Our palace a sepulchre gory in dust, -
But again shall its turrets gleam high in the air,
And again shall the flash of our sabres be there!

Again shall the name of our Age be known -
A spell that o'ershadows the mosque and the throne;
Again shall our foeman grow pale when he hears
The tread and the shout of the fierce Janaziers!


For a time - for a time may the tyrant prevail,
But himself and his Pachas before us shall quail;
The fate that tore Salim in blood from the throne,
We have sworn, haughty Mahmoud! shall yet be thy own.


The warriors of ages! who fought and who bled
With Osman and Amurath - the deathless, tho dead, -
Are they destined to pass like the sunshine of spring! -
Their fame to the winds, and their neck to the string!


By the prophet! the waves of the Euxine shall stop,
The stars from the concave like hailstones shall drop,
Ere the traitor and coward may hope to tread down,
The tameless in soul - the undimm'd in renown.


We warn thee, stern Mahmoud! they hour is at hand, -
Thou hast sharpen'd the lance, thou hast kindled the brand;
We are gather'd like tempests that gather by night,
We - wo to three, King! when we burst in our might!

Unattributed

1:8, p. 32

1827.05.04