When the train cross'd the sea, 'mid shouts of joy, And the huge sea-pillars dash'd away the tide, Awhile the power of song seem'd vague, beside Those vast mechanics, mighty to convoy A length of cars high over flood and ooze; But the brief thought was feeble and unwise: No season'd oak is stronger than the Muse, For all the great cross-beams, and clamps, and ties. Brave songs may raise a people sore-deprest, And knit its strength together for the strife With foreign foes, or subtle statesman's art: Sweet hymns have lifted many a dying heart Above the world, and sped the passing life Across the waters, to the land of rest! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL GEORGE by WILLIAM COWPER HOW VIOLETS CAME BLUE by ROBERT HERRICK PENMAEN POOL by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS ROBIN ADAIR by CAROLINE KEPPEL THE MAN-OF-WAR HAWK by HERMAN MELVILLE UNDERSTANDING by NIXON WATERMAN THE HUNTER'S SONG by WILLIAM BASSE |