Ah, not this marble, dead and cold: Far from its base and shaft expanding -- the round zones circling, comprehending, Thou, Washington, art all the world's, the continents' entire -- not yours alone, America, Europe's as well, in every part, castle of lord or laborer's cot, Or frozen North, or sultry South -- the African's -- the Arab's in his tent, Old Asia's there with venerable smile, seated amid her ruins; (Greets the antique the hero new? 'tis but the same -- the heir legitimate, continued ever, The indomitable heart and arm -- proofs of the never-broken line, Courage, alertness, patience, faith, the same -- e'en in defeat defeated not, the same:) Wherever sails a ship, or house is built on land, or day or night, Through teeming cities' streets, indoors or out, factories or farms, Now, or to come, or past -- where patriot wills existed or exist, Wherever Freedom, pois'd by Toleration, sway'd by Law, Stands or is rising thy true monument. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE COMING OF WAR: ACTAEON by EZRA POUND THE SICKNESS by CHARLES BUKOWSKI A SECOND REVIEW OF THE GRAND ARMY [MAY 24, 1865] by FRANCIS BRET HARTE PROPERZIA ROSSI by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS RAILWAY DREAMINGS by ALEXANDER ANDERSON THE HAYSWATER BOAT by MATTHEW ARNOLD TO A. E. HOUSMAN by MARGARET ASH WOODBINES IN OCTOBER by CHARLOTTE FISKE BATES HE WONDERS WHETHER TO PRAISE OR TO BLAME HER by RUPERT BROOKE |