 | [Poems by Whittier in] A Study of Whittier's Apprenticeship as a Poet |  |
LINES
Written after reading “The Warrior's Song” published in the Memorial of 1827
Grasp! warrior, grasp the baleful steel,
Thy banner to the sunlight fling,
Haste! let thy charger's iron heel,
On mail-clad bosoms ring;
When blood-red fields are lost and won,
Shall dreadless spirits stay?
Go! beauty's hand shall wave thee on,
And point thy daring way.
Thy banner to the sunlight fling,
Haste! let thy charger's iron heel,
On mail-clad bosoms ring;
When blood-red fields are lost and won,
Shall dreadless spirits stay?
Go! beauty's hand shall wave thee on,
And point thy daring way.
[OMITTED]
And what though glory's sunlight fall,
When thou are gone, upon thy name,
Can death's impervious prison wall
Re-echo to the voice of fame?
Can stately tread of warlike men,
Or peal of funeral gun—
Give rapture to thy spirit, when
Its earthly power is done?
When thou are gone, upon thy name,
Can death's impervious prison wall
Re-echo to the voice of fame?
Can stately tread of warlike men,
Or peal of funeral gun—
Give rapture to thy spirit, when
Its earthly power is done?
136
Or can thy slumbers be like those,
Which mild and peaceful spirits have?
When, 'neath the monument that throws
Its shadow o'er a nation's grave;
Thy form is laid—not so, thy guilt
Shall bid death's calmness fly—
The blood thy reckless blade has spilt,
Shall send from earth its cry.
Which mild and peaceful spirits have?
When, 'neath the monument that throws
Its shadow o'er a nation's grave;
Thy form is laid—not so, thy guilt
Shall bid death's calmness fly—
The blood thy reckless blade has spilt,
Shall send from earth its cry.
Stanzas 1, 6, 7 Haverhill Gazette, June 23, 1827
| [Poems by Whittier in] A Study of Whittier's Apprenticeship as a Poet | |