'OUR country! right or wrong,'— What manly heart can doubt That thus should swell the patriot song, Thus ring the patriot shout? Be but the foe arrayed, And war's wild trumpet blown,— Cold were his heart, who has not made His country's cause his own! Though faction rule the halls, Where nobler thoughts have swayed, One sacred voice forever calls The patriot's heart and blade; He, at @3his country's@1 name, Feels every pulse beat high, Wreathes round her glory all his fame And loves for her to die! Where'er her flag unrolled Wooes the saluting breeze, Flings o'er the plain its starry fold, Or floats on stormy seas,— All dearest things are there, All that makes life divine, Home, faith, the brave, the true, the fair, Cling to the flaming sign. Oh, is this thought a dream? No,—by the gallant dead, Who sleep by hill and plain and stream, Or deep on ocean's bed! By every sacred name, By every glorious song, By all we know and love of fame,— OUR COUNTRY,—right or wrong! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SOUVENIR by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON DOWN BY THE CARIB SEA: 2. LOS CIGARILLOS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE IYYOB TRANSLATION FROM 'A-15' by LOUIS ZUKOFSKY ARABELLA STUART by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS ON READING THAT THE REBUILDING OF YPRES APPROACHED COMPLETION by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN LE ROI EST MORT. VIVE LE ROI! by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT |