The Night of Election

“O venerable patriot, I pray
Stand not here coatless; at the break of day
  We’ll know the grand result⁠—and even now
The eastern sky is faintly touched with gray.

“It ill befits thine age’s hoary crown⁠—
This rude environment of rogue and clown,
  Who, as the lying bulletins appear,
With drunken cries incarnadine the town.

“But if with noble zeal you stay to note
The outcome of your patriotic vote
  For Blaine, or Cleveland, and your native land,
Take⁠—and God bless you!⁠—take my overcoat.”

“Done, pard⁠—it’s mighty white of you. And now
I guess the country’ll keep the trail somehow.
  I ain’t allowed to vote, the Warden said,
But whacked my coat up on old Stanislow.”