Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FORTITUDE OF THE NORTH UNDER THE DISASTER OF 2ND MANASSAS by HERMAN MELVILLE

Poet Analysis

First Line: NO SHAME THEY TAKE FOR DARK DEFEAT
Last Line: WHEN THE LIVID ANTARCTIC STORM-CLOUDS GLOW.
Subject(s): AMERICAN CIVIL WAR; BULL RUN, BATTLES OF; U.S. - HISTORY; MANASSAS, BATLLE OF;
No shame they take for dark defeat
While prizing yet each victory won,
Who fight for the Right through all retreat,
Nor pause until their work is done.
The Cape-of-Storms is proof to every throe;
Vainly against that foreland beat
Wild winds aloft and wilder waves below:
The black cliffs gleam through rents in sleet
When the livid Antarctic storm-clouds glow.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net