Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WARNEFORD, V.C., by HENRY CHAPPELL


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WARNEFORD, V.C., by                    
First Line: Avengeance, winged, he sped aloft
Last Line: You wear a nobler crown.
Subject(s): Vengeance


AVENGEANCE, winged, he sped aloft
Thro' the eagle's pathway bright,
And saw the horned moon grow soft
And fade in the golden light.
He watched for a monster grim and grey,
Afar in the fleecy clouds,
That writhe and whirl in her homeward way
From her murd'rous errand to blast and slay,
Like phantoms seeking her course to stay,
Enwrapped in clammy shrouds.

She comes, ill omened, an evil thing
Far up in the white flecked blue,
And the Vengeance soars on upward wing,
A slayer of fiends who slew.
Down thro' the silken monster rape
The deadly bolts well sped;
Red fire tongues lick the giant shape,
From the buoyant fumes that seek escape,
While jagged rents all flapping gape
Like wounds to the sky o'erhead.

She flames and bursts with a thunder roar,
And the stunning blast upflung
Smites on the Vengeance, turns him o'er
Till head to earth is hung:
He rights, and rests on earth a space,
Then soars again on high,
A Victor proud, whose name and race
No waves of Time shall e'er efface;
Deep branded on the scroll of grace,
The deed can never die.

Dear gallant lad, Life's mortal foe
Came winging down the steep,
And touched your hand and bid you go
To sleep the last long sleep;
Above earth's little hopes and fears,
Above earth's smile or frown,
Beyond the blinding mists of tears,
Beyond the grief that burns and sears,
Where Time is not, nor days, nor years;
You wear a nobler crown.





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