Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, HYMN, by JAMES MONTGOMERY


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HYMN, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: O god of hosts, thine ear incline
Last Line: Speak -- and the world shall smile in peace!
Alternate Author Name(s): The Common Lot


O God of Hosts, Thine ear incline,
Regard our prayers, our cause be Thine:
When orphans cry, when babes complain,
When widows weep, canst Thou refrain?

Now red and terrible, Thine hand
Scourges with war our guilty land;
Europe Thy flaming vengeance feels,
And from her deep foundations reels.

Her rivers bleed like mighty veins,
Her towers are ashes, graves her plains;
Slaughter her groaning valleys fills,
And reeking carnage melts her hills.

O Thou, whose awful word can bind
The roaring waves, the raging wind,
Mad tyrants tame, break down the high
Whose haughty foreheads beat the sky,

Make bare Thine arm, great King of Kings!
That arm alone salvation brings:
That wonder-working arm which broke
From Israel's neck the Egyptian yoke.

Burst every dungeon, every chain!
Give injured slaves their rights again!
Let truth prevail, let discord cease,
Speak -- and the world shall smile in peace!





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