Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE MISSION TEA PARTY, by EMMA HUNTINGTON NASON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE MISSION TEA PARTY, by                    
First Line: The war in the east had ended
Last Line: "played grandly—""god save the queen!"
Subject(s): India - Sepoy Rebellion (1857); Missions & Missionaries


THE war in the East had ended:
Its terrors were past, they said;
There was peace once more for the living,
And peace for the valiant dead.

Through the splendid squares of Lucknow
The Highlanders marched again;
The heroes of fortress and jungle,
Brave Havelock's peerless men!

Ay! open your gates, O Lucknow!
But measure, ye guards, your breath,
As ye think of those days, an hundred,
When Havelock marched with death.

They had freed the beleaguered city,
Fought step by step through the vale;
And swept from the shore of the Ganges
Forever the Sepoy's trail.

Through the streets swept the colors of England,
Born proudly aloft on the air;
While the "throne land of Rama" re-echoed
The Christian's thanksgiving and prayer.

And blithest of all were the pipers,
Their tartan plaids streaming in pride,
As they woke, on the banks of the Goomtee,
The airs of the Doon and Clyde.

Then the heart of one beautiful woman
Was stirred by an impulse sweet,
As she thought of the long, forced marches,
The weary and blood-stained feet;

"Not for twice twelve months have they tasted
A simple cupful of tea!
I will serve it to-day for the heroes
Who periled their lives for me!

"Bid them come to the courts of the Mission!"
Gay awnings were hastily hung;
While on tripods of curious fashion
The tea-kettles merrily swung;

Swung and sung songs of the homeland;
Familiar and sweet were the tunes,
As if winds of the loch and the mountain
Blew soft through the Indian noons.

She fastened the tartan of Scotland
With the thistle-bloom over her breast;
And her own little winsome daughter
In the bonny bright plaid she drest.

This fair-faced, brave-hearted woman,
A stranger from lands of the West,
To the ancient palace and gardens
Welcomed each war-worn guest.

And with Highland bonnets uplifted,
There under the Hindoo palm,
The soldiers of Havelock listened
To the Hebrew's glorious psalm:

"Thou wentest before thy people,
And kings of armies did flee!"
Then merrily under the shadows
They drank of the fragrant tea.

And many a battle-scarred soldier
Let fall from a glistening eye
Hot tears on the hand of his hostess
For whom he had thought to die.

And for her was the Highlander's blessing
Breathed low in that tenderer scene
When the pipers, proud in their places,
Played grandly—"God save the Queen!"





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net