At length a fierce autocracy is seen Install'd aloft in Freedom's very seat; A throne built on the anger of defeat - A virtual crown accorded in a spleen; The North, which brawled for Freedom and her rights: The North, which talk'd so big of brotherhood, Hath dared for very rage a hundred fights, When once her will was traversed! Once withstood, She opened condor's wings, and cried for blood: And soared at once to sheer despotic heights - And so we see, O saddest of all sights! A ravening temper, deaf to all things good; While the poor slaves, cajoled by warring whites, Drift between North and South like floating wood. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NOEL: CHRISTMAS EVE, 1913 by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES SEASHORE (1) by RALPH WALDO EMERSON SUMMER (2) by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI A CHRISTMAS CAROL by GEORGE WITHER THE WITHERED ROSE by PHILIP AYRES FLANDERS NOW by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN |