Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

GUARD OF THE EASTERN GATE by EMILY PAULINE JOHNSON

First Line: HALIFAX SITS ON HER HILLS BY THE SEA
Last Line: AND HER THUNDER BUT SLEEPS.
Subject(s): ARMS & ARMOR; HALIFAX, CANADA; WEAPONS; AMMUNITION;
HALIFAX sits on her hills by the sea
In the might of her pride,—
Invincible, terrible, beautiful, she
With a sword at her side.

To right and to left of her, battlements rear
And fortresses frown;
While she sits on her throne without favour or fear
With her cannon as crown.

Coast guard and sentinel, watch of the weal
Of a nation she keeps;
But her hand is encased in a gauntlet of steel,
And her thunder but sleeps.



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