Who is the happy Warrior? Who is heThat every man in arms should wish to be?—It is the generous Spirit, who, when broughtAmong the tasks of real life, hath wroughtUpon the plan that pleased his boyish thought:Whose high endeavours are an inward lightThat makes the path before him always bright;Who, with a natural instinct to … Continue reading Poem – “Character of the Happy Warrior”
Poetry
Poem – “The Truce of the Bear”
Yearly, with tent and rifle, our careless white men goBy the Pass called Muttianee, to shoot in the vale below.Yearly by Muttianee he follows our white men in—Matun, the old blind beggar, bandaged from brow to chin. Eyeless, noseless, and lipless - toothless, broken of speech,Seeking a dole at the doorway he mumbles his tale … Continue reading Poem – “The Truce of the Bear”
Poem – The Prayer of the Proud in Purgatory
Our Father in Heaven, not by Heaven boundedBut there indwelling for the greater loveThou bear'st Thy first works in the realm first-founded, Hallowed be Thy name, hallowed Thy PowerBy every creature as its nature grants itTo praise Thy quickening breath in its brief hour. Let come to us the sweet peace of Thy reign,For if … Continue reading Poem – The Prayer of the Proud in Purgatory
Poem – “The Hollow Men”
Mistah Kurtz-he dead A penny for the Old Guy I We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men Leaning together Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! Our dried voices, when We whisper … Continue reading Poem – “The Hollow Men”
Poem – “Silver”
Slowly, silently, now the moonWalks the night in her silver shoon;This way, and that, she peers, and seesSilver fruit upon silver trees;One by one the casements catchHer beams beneath the silvery thatch;Couched in his kennel, like a log,With paws of silver sleeps the dog;From their shadowy cote the white breasts peepOf doves in a silver-feathered … Continue reading Poem – “Silver”
Poem – “To Those That Mourn”
Lift up your heads: in life, in death,God knoweth his head was high.Quit we the coward's broken breathWho watched a strong man die. If we must say, 'No more his peerCometh; the flag is furled.'Stand not too near him, lest he hearThat slander on the world. The good green earth he loved and trodIs still, … Continue reading Poem – “To Those That Mourn”
Poem – ‘De Consolatione, Book II, Song 2’
Though countless as the grains of sandThat roll at Eurus' loud command;Though countless as the lamps of nightThat glad us with vicarious light;Fair plenty, gracious queen, should pourThe blessings of a golden shower,Not all the gifts of fate combin'dWould ease the hunger of the mind,But swallowing call the mighty store,Rapacity would call for more;For still … Continue reading Poem – ‘De Consolatione, Book II, Song 2’
Poem – “To His Excellency George Washington”
Celestial choir! enthron'd in realms of light,Columbia's scenes of glorious toils I write.While freedom's cause her anxious breast alarms,She flashes dreadful in refulgent arms.See mother earth her offspring's fate bemoan,And nations gaze at scenes before unknown!See the bright beams of heaven's revolving lightInvolved in sorrows and the veil of night! The Goddess comes, she moves … Continue reading Poem – “To His Excellency George Washington”
Poem – “A Servant When He Reigneth”
Three things make earth unquietAnd four she cannot brookThe godly Agur counted themAnd put them in a book —Those Four Tremendous CursesWith which mankind is cursed;But a Servant when He ReignethOld Agur entered first.An Handmaid that is MistressWe need not call upon.A Fool when he is full of MeatWill fall asleep anon.An Odious Woman MarriedMay … Continue reading Poem – “A Servant When He Reigneth”
Poem – “An Imitation of Spencer”
Golden Apollo, that thro' heaven wideScatter'st the rays of light, and truth's beams,In lucent words my darkling verses dight,And wash my earthy mind in thy clear streams,That wisdom may descend in fairy dreams,All while the jocund hours in thy trainScatter their fancies at thy poet's feet;And when thou yields to night thy wide domain,Let rays … Continue reading Poem – “An Imitation of Spencer”