THE lioness whelped, and the sturdy cub Was seized by an eagle and carried up, And homed for a while in an eagle's nest, And slept for a while on an eagle's breast; And the eagle taught it the eagle's song: "To be stanch, and valiant, and free, and strong!" The lion whelp sprang from the eyrie nest, From the lofty crag where the queen birds rest; He fought the King on the spreading plain, And drove him back o'er the foaming main. He held the land as a thrifty chief, And reared his cattle, and reaped his sheat Nor sought the help of a foreign hand Yet welcomed all to his own free land! Two were the sons that the country bore To the Northern lakes and the Southern shore; And Chivalry dwelt with the Southern son, And Industry lived with the Northern one. Tears for the time when they broke and fought! Tears was the price of the union wrought! And the land was red in a sea of blood, Where brother for brother had swelled the flood! And now that the two are one again, Behold on their shield the word "Refrain!" And the lion cubs twain sing the eagle's song: "To be stanch, and valiant, and free, and strong!" For the eagle's beak, and the lion's paw, And the lion's fangs, and the eagle's claw, And the eagle's swoop, and the lion's might, And the lion's leap, and the eagle's sight, Shall guard the flag with the word "Refrain!" Now that the two are one again! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MADMAN OF THE SOUTH SIDE by CLARENCE MAJOR THE HAWK by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS AN EPITAPH, INTENDED FOR HIMSELF by JAMES BEATTIE A BARD'S EPITAPH by ROBERT BURNS THE GIANTESS by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE A BALLAD OF THE HEATHER by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT THE SWORD OF CASTRUCCIO CASTRACANI by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING |