The Peasant’s Confession

Good Father! . . . 'Twas an eve in middle June,
&nbsp And war was waged anew
By great Napoleon, who for years had strewn
&nbsp Men's bones all Europe through.

Three nights ere this, with columned corps he'd crossed
&nbsp The Sambre at Charleroi,
To move on Brussels, where the English host
&nbsp Dallied in Parc and Bois.

The yestertide we'd heard the gloomy gun
&nbsp Growl through the long-sunned day
From Quatre-Bras and Ligny; till the dun
&nbsp Twilight suppressed the fray;

Albeit therein—as lated tongues bespoke -
&nbsp Brunswick's high heart was drained,
And Prussia's Line and Landwehr, though unbroke,
&nbsp Stood cornered and constrained.

And at next noon-time Grouchy slowly passed
&nbsp With thirty thousand men:
We hoped thenceforth no army, small or vast,
&nbsp Would trouble us again.

My hut lay deeply in a vale recessed,
&nbsp And never a soul seemed nigh
When, reassured at length, we went to rest -
&nbsp My children, wife, and I.

But what was this that broke our humble ease?
&nbsp What noise, above the rain,
Above the dripping of the poplar trees
&nbsp That smote along the pane?

- A call of mastery, bidding me arise,
&nbsp Compelled me to the door,
At which a horseman stood in martial guise -
&nbsp Splashed—sweating from every pore.

Had I seen Grouchy? Yes? Which track took he?
&nbsp Could I lead thither on? -
Fulfilment would ensure gold pieces three,
&nbsp Perchance more gifts anon.

"I bear the Emperor's mandate," then he said,
&nbsp "Charging the Marshal straight
To strike between the double host ahead
&nbsp Ere they co-operate,

"Engaging Blucher till the Emperor put
&nbsp Lord Wellington to flight,
And next the Prussians. This to set afoot
&nbsp Is my emprise to-night."

I joined him in the mist; but, pausing, sought
&nbsp To estimate his say.
Grouchy had made for Wavre; and yet, on thought,
&nbsp I did not lead that way.

I mused: "If Grouchy thus instructed be,
&nbsp The clash comes sheer hereon;
My farm is stript. While, as for pieces three,
&nbsp Money the French have none.

"Grouchy unwarned, moreo'er, the English win,
&nbsp And mine is left to me -
They buy, not borrow."—Hence did I begin
&nbsp To lead him treacherously.

By Joidoigne, near to east, as we ondrew,
&nbsp Dawn pierced the humid air;
And eastward faced I with him, though I knew
&nbsp Never marched Grouchy there.
Near Ottignies we passed, across the Dyle

&nbsp (Lim'lette left far aside),
And thence direct toward Pervez and Noville
&nbsp Through green grain, till he cried:

"I doubt thy conduct, man! no track is here -
&nbsp I doubt thy gaged word!"
Thereat he scowled on me, and pranced me near,
&nbsp And pricked me with his sword.

"Nay, Captain, hold! We skirt, not trace the course
&nbsp Of Grouchy," said I then:
"As we go, yonder went he, with his force
&nbsp Of thirty thousand men."

- At length noon nighed; when west, from Saint-John's-Mound,
&nbsp A hoarse artillery boomed,
And from Saint-Lambert's upland, chapel-crowned,
&nbsp The Prussian squadrons loomed.

Then to the wayless wet gray ground he leapt;
&nbsp "My mission fails!" he cried;
"Too late for Grouchy now to intercept,
&nbsp For, peasant, you have lied!"

He turned to pistol me. I sprang, and drew
&nbsp The sabre from his flank,
And 'twixt his nape and shoulder, ere he knew,
&nbsp I struck, and dead he sank.

I hid him deep in nodding rye and oat -
&nbsp His shroud green stalks and loam;
His requiem the corn-blade's husky note -
&nbsp And then I hastened home, . . .

- Two armies writhe in coils of red and blue,
&nbsp And brass and iron clang
From Goumont, past the front of Waterloo,
&nbsp To Pap'lotte and Smohain.

The Guard Imperial wavered on the height;
&nbsp The Emperor's face grew glum;
"I sent," he said, "to Grouchy yesternight,
&nbsp And yet he does not come!"

'Twas then, Good Father, that the French espied,
&nbsp Streaking the summer land,
The men of Blucher. But the Emperor cried,
&nbsp "Grouchy is now at hand!"

And meanwhile Vand'leur, Vivian, Maitland, Kempt,
&nbsp Met d'Erlon, Friant, Ney;
But Grouchy—mis-sent, blamed, yet blame-exempt -
&nbsp Grouchy was far away.

By even, slain or struck, Michel the strong,
&nbsp Bold Travers, Dnop, Delord,
Smart Guyot, Reil-le, l'Heriter, Friant,
&nbsp Scattered that champaign o'er.

Fallen likewise wronged Duhesme, and skilled Lobau
&nbsp Did that red sunset see;
Colbert, Legros, Blancard! . . . And of the foe
&nbsp Picton and Ponsonby;

With Gordon, Canning, Blackman, Ompteda,
&nbsp L'Estrange, Delancey, Packe,
Grose, D'Oyly, Stables, Morice, Howard, Hay,
&nbsp Von Schwerin, Watzdorf, Boek,

Smith, Phelips, Fuller, Lind, and Battersby,
&nbsp And hosts of ranksmen round . . .
Memorials linger yet to speak to thee
&nbsp Of those that bit the ground!

The Guards' last column yielded; dykes of dead
&nbsp Lay between vale and ridge,
As, thinned yet closing, faint yet fierce, they sped
&nbsp In packs to Genappe Bridge.

Safe was my stock; my capple cow unslain;
&nbsp Intact each cock and hen;
But Grouchy far at Wavre all day had lain,
&nbsp And thirty thousand men.

O Saints, had I but lost my earing corn
&nbsp And saved the cause once prized!
O Saints, why such false witness had I borne
&nbsp When late I'd sympathized! . . .

So now, being old, my children eye askance
&nbsp My slowly dwindling store,
And crave my mite; till, worn with tarriance,
&nbsp I care for life no more.

To Almighty God henceforth I stand confessed,
&nbsp And Virgin-Saint Marie;
O Michael, John, and Holy Ones in rest,
&nbsp Entreat the Lord for me!