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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ARMS AND THE MAN, by ARTHUR PETERSON Poet's Biography First Line: Hail the great admiral! Hail him who came Last Line: And homeward now departs! Hail and farewell! Subject(s): Admirals; Hero And Leander | |||
1 Hail the great Admiral! Hail him who came, One year ago, into this tropic bay, Conquistador from out the far-off north, And homeward now departs! Hail and farewell! 2 One year ago! As on the cruiser's deck By night I sit, and watch thy broad expanse, Manila Bay, lit by the moon's pale beam, What dreams are mine! What visions of the Past! 3 The flag of Spain above Cavite's forts! The fleet of Spain in battle's stern array! The dark gray ships that, on that morn in May, Out of the north, like phantom galleys, came, And smote to death the fleet and forts of Spain! Corregidor beheld them as they passed In single, silent file -- Olympia leading, Baltimore, Raleigh, Petrel, Concord, Boston -- The immortal six: Corregidor beheld them Advancing like the messengers of Fate, Prescient, inexorable -- the vanguard Of great America, in southern seas Her destiny imperial fulfilling: Corregidor beheld them as they passed -- The Angles and the Saxons sailing on! 4 Once more the Northman with the Southron strove, Once more the viking, as in days of old, Crossing the dark blue ocean, seized his prey Ere yet that prey had deemed the eagle near. 5 The months of war which followed: or with Spain, Or crafty Aguinaldo's dusky hordes: The dark gray ships on guard; the long searchlights Stretching across the bay: ever and anon The signals red and white from mast-head hanging Like fiery constellations in the sky. Now, as the fierce Tagals our lines assault, The boom of Charleston's or Monadnock's guns Proclaims the battle on: now, like a wave, Wild, irresistible; or like a troop Of tawny lions (so, methinks, they seem, All clad in stout khaki) our soldier-lads -- By Otis, Lawton, brave MacArthur led -- O'erwhelm the Malay, and Malolos falls. Now Aguinaldo flies. Thus passed the days -- Thus passed the nights -- in fair Manila's bay: Thus passed a year which held a century's tasks -- A year which wrought a century's change: at last "Come home," his country signaled him, "Well done!" 6 Hail the great Admiral! Hail him who came, One year ago, into this tropic bay, Conquistador from out the far-off north, And homeward now departs! Hail and farewell! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HERO AND LEANDER: LEANDER'S DEATH by GRAMMATICUS MUSAEUS HERO AND LEANDER: THE LOVES OF HERO AND LEANDER by GRAMMATICUS MUSAEUS THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 88. HERO'S LAMP by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI HERO AND LEANDER by JOHANN CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH VON SCHILLER A PURPLE HEART BADGE by EMMA THOMAS SCOVILLE HERO AND LEANDER; OR THE BOY'S HELLESPONT by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER VISIT TO THE ART GALLERY, SELS. by CARLOS BAKER A CLOUD FANCY by ARTHUR PETERSON |
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