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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
JEFFERSON DAVIS, by WALKER MERIWETHER BELL First Line: Calm martyr of a noble cause Last Line: A relic and a shrine! Subject(s): American Civil War; Confederate States Of America; Davis, Jefferson (1808-1889); United States - History; Confederacy | |||
"Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, Are all with thee, are all with thee." LONGFELLOW. CALM martyr of a noble cause. Upon thy form in vain The Dungeon shuts its cankered jaws, And clasps its cankered chain; For thy free spirit walks abroad, And every pulse is stirred With the old deathless glory thrill, Whene'er thy name is heard. The same that lit each Grecian eye, Whene'er it rested on The wild pass of Thermopylae -- The plain of Marathon; And made the Roman's ancient blood Bound fiercely as he told, "How well Horatio kept the bridge, In the brave days of old." The same that makes the Switzer's heart With silent rapture swell, When in each Alpine height he sees A monument to Tell: The same that kindles Irish veins When Emmet's name is told; What Bruce to Caledonia is, Kosciusko to the Pole -- Art thou to us! -- thy deathless fame, With Washington entwined, Forever in each Southern heart Is hallowed and enshrined; -- And though the tyrant give thy form To shameful death -- 't were vain; It would but shed a splendor round The gibbet and the chain. Only less sacred in our eyes, Thus blest and purified, Than the dear cross on which our Lord Was shamed and crucified, Would the vile gallows tree become, And through all ages shine, Linked with the glory of thy name, A relic and a shrine! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BONNIE BLUE FLAG by ANNIE CHAMBERS KETCHUM THE CONQUERED BANNER by ABRAM JOSEPH RYAN ODE TO THE CONFEDERATE DEAD by JOHN ORLEY ALLEN TATE AT MAGNOLIA CEMETERY by HENRY TIMROD BEAUREGARD by CATHERINE ANNE WARFIELD VIRGINIA - THE WEST by WALT WHITMAN |
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