ONE hour be silent, sounds of war! Delay the battle he foretold, And let the Bard's triumphant star Send down from heaven its milder gold! Let Fame, that plucks but laurel now For loyal heroes, turn away, And twine, to crown our poet's brow, The greener garland of the bay. For he, our earliest minstrel, fills The land with echoes, sweet and long, Gives language to her silent hills, And bids her rivers move to song. The Phosphor of the Nation's dawn, Sole risen above our tuneless coast, As Hesper now, his lamp burns on, -- The leader of the starry host. He sings of mountains and of streams, Of storied field and haunted dale, Yet hears a voice through all his dreams, Which says: "The Good shall yet prevail." He sings of Truth, he sings of Right; He sings of Freedom, and his strains March with our armies to the fight, Ring in the bondman's falling chains. God, bid him live, till in her place Truth, crushed to earth, again shall rise, -- The "mother of a mighty race" Fulfil her poet's prophecies! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FANCY FROM FONTENELLE by HENRY AUSTIN DOBSON THE ORIGIN OF DIDACTIC POETRY by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL LOUISA MAY ALCOTT by LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON THE CITY IN THE SEA by EDGAR ALLAN POE THE NOTHING REDEMPTION by BRUCE WEIGL A ROCKING HYMN by GEORGE WITHER OUR BIRTH-CORD by KOFI ANYIDOHO SONNETS OF MANHOOD: 36. STRONG, LIKE THE SEA by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) |