"WHAT beast in wilderness or cultured field "The lively beauty of the leopard shows? "What flower in meadow-ground or garden grows "That to the towering lily doth not yield? "Let both meet only on thy royal shield! "Go forth, great King! claim what thy birth bestows; "Conquer the Gallic lily which thy foes "Dare to usurp; -- thou hast a sword to wield, "And Heaven will crown the right." -- The mitred Sire Thus spake -- and lo! a Fleet, for Gaul addrest, Ploughs her bold course across the wondering seas; For, sooth to say, ambition, in the breast Of youthful heroes, is no sullen fire, But one that leaps to meet the fanning breeze. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...UNDER MY WINDOW by THOMAS WESTWOOD SONNETS OF MANHOOD: 43. ONE CHANCE by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) FISH FOR BREAKFAST by HENRY T. CHAMBERS THE TRUE NEED by THOMAS CURTIS CLARK A CHILD'S SMILE by DINAH MARIA MULOCK CRAIK WRITTEN IN DEVONSHIRE, NEAR THE DART by ANNE BATTEN CRISTALL |