SATURNIAN mother! why dost thou devour Thy offspring, who by loving thee are curst? Why must they fear thee who would fain be first To add new glories to thy matchless dower? Why must they flee before thy cruel power, That punishes their best as treason's worst, -- The treason that despotic chains would burst, -- That makes men heroes who in slavery cower? Upon thy brow the stars of empire burn; Thy bearing has a majesty sublime. Thy exiled children ever toward thee yearn; Nor should their ardent love be deemed a crime. O, mighty mother of men, to mildness turn, And haste the advent of a happier time! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TWO POEMS FROM THE WAR: 1 by ARCHIBALD MACLEISH PAST AND PRESENT by ROWLAND EYLES EGERTON-WARBURTON ACCIDENT IN ART by RICHARD HOVEY THE ORIGIN OF DIDACTIC POETRY by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL DAUGHTERS OF WAR by ISAAC ROSENBERG LINES TO A BEAUTIFUL AND BUS-RIDING LADY by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS MERCURY; ON LOSING MY POCKET MILTON AT LUSS NEAR BEN LOMOND by ROBERT ANDREWS |