Classic and Contemporary Poetry
OUT OF THE RANKS, by JOHN LAWSON STODDARD Poet's Biography First Line: From the bitter fight I have made my way Last Line: And hope for the dawn of a better day. Subject(s): Death; Faces; Fights; Tears; Dead, The | ||||||||
From the bitter fight I have made my way To the peaceful crest of a lonely hill, But the noise and heat of the deadly fray And the smart of wounds are with me still. No recreant I to a noble cause, Nor traitor base to a leader bold; 'Twas a fight where he won most applause Who captured most of his neighbor's gold; Where the wounded crawled away to die, Or, hopeless, ate their bread with tears, And the only cries that rent the sky Were the shouts of frenzied financiers. Alas for the prematurely gray, Who struggle there through joyless lives To win the means of more display For thankless children, thoughtless wives! Alas for those whose spirits yearn For leisure, books, and sunlit fields, Who yet can never pause to learn The joy that a life of culture yields! Still sway the mad crowds to and fro! I hear their groans and panting breath, The hideous impacts, blow on blow, The moans of those who are crushed to death! None stoop to lift up those who fall; A thousand leap for a vacant place, Thrust weaker thousands to the wall, And trample many an upturned face! But I, however the fight may go, Have turned my back on the sordid fray, To face the tranquil sunset-glow, And hope for the dawn of a better day. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FRIEND KILLED IN THE WAR by ANTHONY HECHT FOR JAMES MERRILL: AN ADIEU by ANTHONY HECHT TARANTULA: OR THE DANCE OF DEATH by ANTHONY HECHT CHAMPS D?ÇÖHONNEUR by ERNEST HEMINGWAY NOTE TO REALITY by TONY HOAGLAND A MAY MONODY by JOHN LAWSON STODDARD |
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