PORTO RICO by GEORGE E. BOWEN

OH, the soft blue waves of the southern sea
Are laughing beneath the stars,
And the moonlight whitens the shining sands
Tossed upon the coral bars;
But the sentry shivers with righteous dread,
As he stands in the frowning tower
And measures the time, as the night wears on,
With the wasting of Spanish power.

And the soft blue waves of the southern sea
Laugh merrily as they feel
The throbbing caress of a swift young fleet
And the force of its arms of steel;
But the quivering form of the sentry sways
In the grip of the mighty fear,
And the frowning granite grows ashen gray
As the hurrying morn draws near.

Oh, the soft blue waves of the southern sea
Are flashing with glad, white stars
That are dashing their luminous purity
O'er silver and crimson bars;
And the sentry reads on the rising tide,
As it lashes the groaning walls,
The message of angered Destiny,
Condemning the pride that falls.

And the soft blue waves of the southern sun
Shall reach, with their kind embrace,
And wash from the ruins of tyranny
Forever each cruel trace.
And the sentry — gone from his ghastly watch —
In penitent dreams shall see
The flowers of freedom enwreathing the isle
That is what it seems to be.

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

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