And bowed with the grief she so long has suppressed,
She weeps herself quiet and calm on his breast.
At length, in a voice just as steady and clear
As if it had never been choked by a tear,
She raises her eyes with a softened control,
And through them her husband looks into her soul.

"I feel that we each for the other could die;
Your heart to my own makes the instant reply:
But dear as you are, Love,--my life and my light,--
I would not consent to your stay, if I might:
No!--arm for the conflict, and on, with the rest;
Virginia has need of her bravest and best!
My heart--it must bleed, and my cheek will be wet,
Yet never, believe me, with selfish regret:
My ardor abates not one jot of its glow,
Though the tears of the wife and the woman _will_ flow.

"Our cause is so holy, so just, and so true,--
Thank God! I can give a defender like you!
For home, and for children,--for freedoms--for bread,--
For the house of our God,--for the graves of our dead,--
For leave to exist on the soil of our birth,--
For everything manhood holds dearest on earth:
When _these_ are the things that we fight for--dare I
Hold back my best treasure, with plaint or with sigh?
My cheek would blush crimson,--my spirit be galled,
If _he_ were not there when the muster was called!
When we pleaded for peace, every right was denied;
Every pressing petition turned proudly aside;