SLEEP, Motley, with the great of ancient days, Who wrote for all the years that yet shall be! Sleep with Herodotus, whose name and praise Have reached the isles of earth's remotest sea; Sleep, while, defiant of the slow decays Of time, thy glorious writings speak for thee, And in the answering heart of millions raise The generous zeal for Right and Liberty. And should the day o'ertake us when, at last, The silence -- that, ere yet a human pen Had traced the slenderest record of the past, Hushed the primeval languages of men -- Upon our English tongue its spell shall cast, Thy memory shall perish only then. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CHAMBER MUSIC: 14 by JAMES JOYCE SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: EPILOGUE by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: IMANUEL EHRENHARDT by EDGAR LEE MASTERS PORTRAIT OF A MOTOR CAR by CARL SANDBURG JEWISH LULLABY by LOUIS UNTERMEYER SHILOH; A REQUIEM by HERMAN MELVILLE |