Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, POEM ON ELOQUENCE BY R.W. EMERSON, by RALPH WALDO EMERSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

POEM ON ELOQUENCE BY R.W. EMERSON, by             Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: When oer the world the son of genius rose
Last Line: And stript of laurels quit the long-fought field
Subject(s): Eloquence


When oer the world the son of genius rose
And woke mankind from indolent repose
When Science first diffused her genial rays
And Learning fair enlightened elder days
Then Eloquence descending from above
Left the high palace of Olympian Jove
To earth's fair field she bent her airy way
Guided by Hermes from the realms of day
Thrice happy Greece her lighting footsteps bore
When first the Goddess on earthly shore
In thy fair realm Polymnia fix'd her throne
And raised her sacred fane, -- nor there alone --
Where to bright knowledge Ignorance gave way
Where Superstition fled the dawn of day
There in the temple of the Muses shone
Polymnia star by radiant lustre known.
First mid the band that sought her courts for fame
Stood cloth'd in light the great Athenian name
Hail great Demosthenes! thine ardent soul
Could nature's arts and nature's self controul
Thy speech inspired with accents clear and loud
Flash'd like the lightning from the thunder cloud
As the fierce flame that rends the rumbling ground
With sudden blaze throws dire destruction round
From Etna's top with mad resistless force
In liquid fire precipitates its course
Nor shepherd's hut nor prince's stately tower
Can save the tenant from the torrents power
Thus from thy lips the fire of Hermes flow'd
And from a mortal almost made a God
Gave thee the power the hearts of men to bind
The magic springs to know that actuate the mind
The strong in war thy strength resist in vain
The great and brave obey thy guiding vein
Twas with that power endued each sep'rate clause
Drew from the listening crowds the loud applause.
When Freedom from thy lips in thunder spoke
And all her spirit flash'd in every look.
When Phillip vainly tried each subtle art
To tempt with venal gold each patriot's heart
Rous'd by their "last great man" they tried the field
But not those Greeks unknowing how to yield --
One mercy more oh! had the Gods bestow'd
Courage on him whose lips with ardour glow'd
Then had led their armies to the plain
And falling Greece had conquered once again
The dubious field of battle's strife been won
And set majestic had their falling sun
But time forbids that more the muse should name
Of Grecian orators well known to fame
Farewell to Greece of liberal arts the nurse
Turn now Oh Muse to Rome direct thy course
See where with awful majesty arise
Her mighty leaders eloquent & wise
See great Hortentius to a greater yield
And stript of laurels quit the long-fought field





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