Classic and Contemporary Poetry
IF I SHOULD CARVE A LINCOLN, by DOUGLAS MALLOCH Poet's Biography First Line: If I should carve a lincoln, I would take Last Line: Some new gibraltar, by our western sea. Subject(s): Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865); Presidents, United States | ||||||||
If I should carve a Lincoln, I would take No snow-white marble, but a rugged rock, One that the frosts of Winter could not break, That had withstood the ocean's thundering shock, Some solid rock amid the shifting sands, Unmoved by storm, unaltered by the wave, Some granite giant that forever stands To mark the harbor with a light to save. If I should carve a Lincoln, I would shape Some promontory lifting from the sea, Standing as Lincoln stood, a mighty cape Thrust forward into time a century, Looking, as Lincoln looked, beyond the shore, Across the ocean of the future years, A rock to stand for men forevermore And point the way to other pioneers. If I should carve a Lincoln, I would form A figure from a rock that loved the sun, A rock that glistened after every storm And smiled with verdure when the rain was done, A rock where little children came to play And violets to blossom on the slope, That found, like Lincoln, humor in each day, In words of humor finding words of hope. If you would carve a Lincoln, such a stone You will require, O sculptor, for your art, Some stone gigantic standing thus alone, High as his mind, and broad as Lincoln's heart. We may not hope to shape with human hands A fit memorial for such as he -- Leave Time to carve it from some rock that stands, Some new Gibraltar, by our western sea. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...JOHN BROWN'S BODY by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS by JOHN HOLLANDER TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON INAUGURATION DAY: JANUARY 1953 by ROBERT LOWELL LINCOLN TRIUMPHANT by EDWIN MARKHAM YOUNG LINCOLN by EDWIN MARKHAM A MAN CHILD IS BORN (1809) by EDGAR LEE MASTERS AT SAGAMORE HILL by EDGAR LEE MASTERS BRUTUS LIVES AGAIN IN BOOTH by EDGAR LEE MASTERS A DIFFERENT WAY by DOUGLAS MALLOCH |
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