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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
MOUNT RUSHMORE, by CHARLOTTE LOUISE BERTLESEN
First Line: When titans, sportive, hurled you high
Last Line: The annals of a race!
Subject(s): Heroism; Mount Rushmore (south Dakota); Titans (mythology); Heroes; Heroines
First Line: When titans, sportive, hurled you high
Last Line: The annals of a race!
Subject(s): Heroism; Mount Rushmore (south Dakota); Titans (mythology); Heroes; Heroines
When Titans, sportive, hurled you high
above the startled earth,
And mocked your frenzied cry of fear
with wild, exultant mirth,
You, rudely, wrenched from out your sleep
of countless eons past,
In terror, knew yourself adrift—
bewildered, stunned, aghast!
No kindred spirit near, to buoy
your soul with hope; dismay
And distant, frowning, starless skies
as night succeeded day ...
The Ages plied their noiseless tools
with ceaseless urge, and art,
Till mighty Pahasapa's mass
grew one with you, in heart.
Your wind-swept, fretted, giant walls
drew Man's exploring eye.
He, vision-haunted, seeks to blaze
his triumphs thwart the sky ...
Achievement-Hour! Your Accolade!
deep-graven on your face,
Heroic deeds, and deathless fame—
The annals of a Race!
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
Other Poems of Interest...
THE CONFESSION OF ST. JIM-RALPH by DENIS JOHNSON
NOTES FOR AN ELEGY by WILLIAM MEREDITH
THE EROTICS OF HISTORY by EAVAN BOLAND
A SONG FOR HEROES by EDWIN MARKHAM
AFTER THE BROKEN ARM by RON PADGETT
PRELUDE; FOR GEOFFREY GORER by EDITH SITWELL
EXAMINATION OF THE HERO IN A TIME OF WAR by WALLACE STEVENS
BALLADE OF MID-WINTER NIGHTS by CHARLOTTE LOUISE BERTLESEN