Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

GIVE ME ARMOUR OF PROOF, by                    
First Line: Give me armour of proof, I must ride to the plain
Last Line: We would gaze from earth's storms on the brightness of heaven!


GIVE me armour of proof, I must ride to the plain;
Give me armour of proof, ere the trump sound again:
To the halls of my childhood no more am I known,
And the nettle must rise where the myrtle hath blown.
Till the conflict is over, the battle is past --
Give me armour of proof -- I am true to the last!

Give me armour of proof -- bring me helmet and spear;
Away! shall the warrior's cheek own a tear?
Bring the steel of Milan -- 't is the firmest and best,
And bind on my bosom its closely-link'd vest,
Where the head of a loved one in fondness hath lain,
Whose tears fell at parting like warm summer rain!

Give me armour of proof -- I have torn from my heart
Each soft tie and true that forbade me to part;
Bring the sword of Damascus, its blade cold and bright,
That bends not in conflict, but gleams in the fight;
And stay -- let me fasten yon scarf on my breast,
Love's light pledge and true -- I will answer the rest!

Give me armour of proof -- shall the cry be in vain,
When to life's sternest conflicts we rush forth amain?
The knight clad in armour the battle may bide;
But woe to the heedless when bendeth the tried;
And woe to youth's morn, when we rode forth alone,
To the conflict unguarded, its gladness hath flown!

Give us armour of proof -- our hopes were all high;
But they pass'd like the meteor lights from the sky;
Our hearts' trust was firm, but life's waves swept away
One by one the frail ties which were shelter and stay;
And true was our love, but its bonds broke in twain:
Give me armour of proof, ere we ride forth again.

Give me armour of proof -- we would turn from the view
Of a world that is fading to one that is true;
We would lift up each thought from this earth-shaded light
To the regions above, where there stealeth no blight;
And with Faith's chosen shield by no dark tempests riven,
We would gaze from earth's storms on the brightness of heaven!





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net