To thee o'er whose fresh-closed tomb The early violets and snowdrops bloom, With these, for thee, I interweave This votive wreath of laurel leaf. Thine was a spirit of an earlier age, When nobler triumphs graced the stage, Whereon our country's heroes moved, Who gloriously their guerdon proved. And thine it was to flash a clearer light O'er the tragedy of an age-long night, And trace, in living words, the story Of Israel's virile thought and former glory. Wakening the echoes of a far-off time, In strains scarce less sublime, Than those the halls of Zion rang, When, o'er the land her minstrels sang. Leaving to Israel a lingering ray, A promised dawn of a brighter day, Long o'er thy mem'ry a nation's love will dwell, Nor soon nor yet will bid a last farewell. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...REVAMPING THE VIRGIN by KAREN SWENSON OLD IRONSIDES by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES THE SLAVE SINGING AT MIDNIGHT by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW POEMS ON THE SLAVE TRADE: 6 by ROBERT SOUTHEY SOME EYES CONDEMN by PHILIP EDWARD THOMAS HYMN TO SCIENCE by MARK AKENSIDE THE ART OF PRESERVING HEALTH: BOOK 1. AIR by JOHN ARMSTRONG |