The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 11, September, 1858 · Chapter 8Le Marais Du Cygne.[1
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[1: The massacre of unarmed and unoffending men in Southern Kansas took place near the Marais du Cygne of the French voyageurs.]
A blush as of roses Where rose never grew! Great drops on the bunch-grass, But not of the dew! A taint in the sweet air For wild bees to shun! A stain that shall never Bleach out in the sun!
Back, steed of the prairies! Sweet song-bird, fly back! Wheel hither, bald vulture! Gray wolf, call thy pack! The foul human vultures Have feasted and fled; The wolves of the Border Have crept from the dead.
From the hearths of their cabins, The fields of their corn, Unwarned and unweaponed, The victims were torn,— By the whirlwind of murder Swooped up and swept on To the low, reedy fen-lands, The Marsh of the Swan.
With a vain plea for mercy No stout knee was crooked; In the mouths of the rifles Right manly they looked. How paled the May sunshine, Green Marais du Cygne, When the death-smoke blew over Thy lonely ravine!
In the homes of their rearing, Yet warm with their lives, Ye wait the dead only, Poor children and wives! Put out the red forge-fire, The smith shall not come; Unyoke the brown oxen, The ploughman lies dumb.
Wind slow from the Swan's Marsh, O dreary death-train, With pressed lips as bloodless As lips of the slain! Kiss down the young eyelids, Smooth down the gray hairs; Let tears quench the curses That burn through your prayers.
Strong man of the prairies, Mourn bitter and wild! Wail, desolate woman! Weep, fatherless child! But the grain of God springs up From ashes beneath, And the crown of His harvest Is life out of death.
Not in vain on the dial The shade moves along To point the great contrasts Of right and of wrong: Free homes and free altars And fields of ripe food; The reeds of the Swan's Marsh, Whose bloom is of blood.
On the lintels of Kansas That blood shall not dry; Henceforth the Bad Angel Shall harmless go by: Henceforth to the sunset, Unchecked on her way, Shall Liberty follow The march of the day.