How black the barge of trailing pall And nodding sable plume That Hudson bears by mountain wall And fields of golden bloom A cloud upon the azure flow, A shadow in the sun, To drumhead roll and church-bell toll And boom of minute gun! By night the ruddy beacons flame On crested Kaaterskill. Great heart that beat for Love and Fame Why liest thou so still? How blithe and brave he left his hall Beside the Hudson's wave! He heard his struggling country's call, His uttermost he gave. He bade his bonny bride farewell; In wastes of nor'land snow He battled, conquered, failed, and fell -- Full twoscore years ago They've wrapped him in a noble sheath, The flag without a fleck; They've borne him from the grave beneath The walls of old Quebec. The land he left in doubtful strife Has triumphed, free and blest; And him that died to give it life His people bear to rest. The bride he kissed a blooming lass Is wrinkled, old, and gray; She hears the drums; she sees him pass; She droops and swoons away. . . . . . . . Loud boomed the bell of high St. Paul's From out the hollow dome; And thus below those ivied walls Montgomery came home. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ST. JOHN'S, CAMBRIDGE; SONNET by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW A HOUSE by JOHN COLLINGS SQUIRE COTTON MILL FUNERAL by STEWART ATKINS GOD'S ACRE by CHARLOTTE LOUISE BERTLESEN LETTER TO A POET by DOROTHY RANDOLPH BYARD BOND STREET by PATRICK REGINALD CHALMERS |