To Theodore Thomas

What diapasons from the hush profound Thy magic wand, O Master, summons forth To laud imperial Kaiser, robed and crowned! Hail! multitudinous music of the North! Titanic Wagner’s soul informs the sound! Ho! instruments triumphant, trump and drum, And cymbal clanging where the troopers come! The Gothic valor now is set to score; I hear the tramp of Saxon thought unbound, The victor’s cry, disdaining death or wound,— I hear the saber ring, the cannon roar! This is the throbbing tune for Halfred’s rhyme, The symphony of glorious war sublime, Valhalla’s martial joy forevermore!