Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, CHANT OF THE BARDS BEFORE THEIR MASSACRE BY EDWARD I, by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS


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CHANT OF THE BARDS BEFORE THEIR MASSACRE BY EDWARD I, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Raise ye the sword! Let the death-stroke
Last Line: The children of song may not breathe in the chain!
Alternate Author Name(s): Browne, Felicia Dorothea
Subject(s): Edward I, King Of England (1239-1307); Massacres; Wales; Welshmen; Welshwomen


RAISE ye the sword! let the death-stroke be given;
Oh! swift may it fall as the lightning of heaven!
So shall our spirits be free as our strains --
The children of song may not languish in chains!

Have ye not trampled our country's bright crest?
Are heroes reposing in death on her breast?
Red with their blood do her mountain-streams flow,
And think ye that still we would linger below?

Rest, ye brave dead! midst the hills of your sires,
Oh! who would not slumber when freedom expires?
Lonely and voiceless your halls must remain --
The children of song may not breathe in the chain!





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