A “Mass” Meeting + 

It was a solemn rite as e’er + 

Was seen by mortal man. + 

The celebrants, the people there, + 

Were all Republican. + 

There Estee bent his grizzled head, + 

And General Dimond, too, + 

And one⁠—’twas Reddick, someone said, + 

Though no one clearly knew. + 

I saw the priest, white-robed and tall + 

(Assistant, Father Stow)⁠— + 

He was the pious man men call + 

Dan Burns of Mexico. + 

Ah, ’twas a high and holy rite + 

As anyone could swear. + 

“What does it mean?” I asked a wight + 

Who knelt apart in prayer. + 

“A mass for the repose,” he said, + 

“Of Colonel Markham’s”⁠—“What, + 

Is gallant Colonel Markham dead? + 

’Tis sad, ’tis sad, God wot!” + 

“A mass”⁠—repeated he, and rose + 

To go and kneel among + 

The worshipers⁠—“for the repose + 

Of Colonel Markham’s tongue.” + 