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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE MASACRE AT SCIO by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: WEEP NOT FOR SCIO'S CHILDREN SLAIN
Last Line: IS SHIVERED, TO BE WORN NO MORE.
Subject(s): GREEK WAR OF INDEPENDENCE (1821-1832); CHIOS (ISLAND), GREECE; MASSACRES;

WEEP not for Scio's children slain;
Their blood, by Turkish falchions shed,
Sends not its cry to Heaven in vain
For vengeance on the murderer's head.
Though high the warm red torrent ran
Between the flames that lit the sky,
Yet, for each drop, an armed man
Shall rise, to free the land, or die.
And for each corpse, that in the sea
Was thrown, to feast the scaly herds,
A hundred of the foe shall be
A banquet for the mountain birds.
Stern rites and sad, shall Greece ordain
To keep that day, along her shore,
Till the last link of slavery's chain
Is shivered, to be worn no more.



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