Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


HEREDITY by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: A SOLDIER OF THE CROMWELL STAMP
Last Line: TO ONE, THE QUICK, UNREASONING HEART.
Subject(s): ANCESTORS & ANCESTRY; HERITAGE; HEREDITY;

A SOLDIER of the Cromwell stamp,
With sword and psalm-book by his side,
At home alike in church and camp:
Austere he lived, and smileless died.

But she, a creature soft and fine --
From Spain, some say, some say from France;
Within her veins leapt blood like wine --
She led her Roundhead lord a dance!

In Grantham church they lie asleep;
Just where, the verger may not know.
Strange that two hundred years should keep
The old ancestral fires aglow!

In me these two have met again;
To each my nature owes a part:
To one, the cool and reasoning brain;
To one, the quick, unreasoning heart.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net