Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, VERMONT WILL DO HER PART, by DANIEL LEAVENS CADY


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

VERMONT WILL DO HER PART, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Who would be free himself must strike
Last Line: Will do her glorious part.
Subject(s): Freedom; Vermont; World War I; Liberty; First World War


WHO would be free himself must strike
The liberating blow;
This truth our fathers felt and rose
In might against their foe;
For this their blood besprent the corn
And stained the winter snow.

For not full-armed from Jovian head
Did Freedom's person spring,
Nor did the clouds let fall the stone
That shotted David's sling;
The sons of men must save themselves
When war's alarums ring.

Each man who would his home defend,
Who would his rights maintain,
And see his country wear no yoke,
His children wear no chain,
Must have a purpose in his heart,
A vision in his brain.

Must have a helmet for his head,
A halberd for his hand,
And be prepared to give or take
The order of command:
The warders may not leave the walls
If Freedom's bastions stand.

Each generation Freedom's creed
Must be with harshness taught,
And freemen warned that all they have
And are was dearly bought;
And oft must Lexington be roused
And Concord's fight be fought.

Do Liberty's inspiring strains
Within our souls resound?
Shall we forsake the seas we sailed
Before the Hun was crowned,
And feebly plead for peace when peace
May not on earth be found?

No; no; I see ten thousand men
From hill and valley start,
From forest, farm and factory,
From mansion-house and mart;
Vermont as in the glorious past
Will do her glorious part.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net