IT was the time of our despair, When lion-hearted Washington -- That man of patience and of prayer -- Looked sadly at each rising sun. In all the freedom-breeding air, Of hope and rescue there was none. When lo! -- as down from Heaven let, There came the sword of Lafayette! Our harbors -- how they danced with light! Our tireless bells -- how they did ring! Again we girded up to fight Not England, but her Prussian king. For here was succor, and the might Of one great soul's imagining . . . What wonder if our eyes be wet To see the sword of Lafayette! Upon the walls where Justice keeps The swords she doth most gladly save, Not one of all so deeply sleeps Within the scabbard's honored grave But, listening for her call, it leaps, To live again among the brave. Thank Heaven our naked blade is set Beside the sword of Lafayette! Not his, not ours, the brutal strife, The vulgar greed of soil or dross; The feet that follow drum and fife Shall tread to nobler gain or loss. 'T is for the holiness of life The Spirit calls us to the Cross. Forget us, God, if we forget The sacred sword of Lafayette. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LOVE by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE MERSA by KEITH CASTELLAINE DOUGLAS LINES; SUGGESTED BY GRAVES TWO ENGLISH SOLDIERS ON CONCORD by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL SONG by CHARLES GRANGER BLANDEN WILD CHERRY TREE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN SYMBOL OF OUR COUNTRY by MAUD MCKINSEY BUTLER CHLOE, M.A by EDWARD JAMES MORTIMER COLLINS TALES OF THE HALL: BOOK 8. THE SISTERS by GEORGE CRABBE SAM'S THREE WISHES: OR LIFE'S LITTLE WHIRLIGIG by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE |