Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE SLEEPER OF MARATHON, by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS


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THE SLEEPER OF MARATHON, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I lay upon the solemn plain
Last Line: Who doth not wake in might?
Alternate Author Name(s): Browne, Felicia Dorothea
Subject(s): Marathon, Greece


I LAY upon the solemn plain
And by the funeral mound,
Where those who died not there in vain
Their place of sleep had found.
'T was silent where the free blood gushed,
When Persia came arrayed, --
So many a voice had there been hushed,
So many a footstep stayed.

I slumbered on the lonely spot,
So sanctified by Death, --
I slumbered, -- but my rest was not
As theirs who lay beneath.
For on my dreams, that shadowy hour,
They rose, -- the chainless dead, --
All armed they sprang, in joy, in power,
Up from their grassy bed.

I saw their spears, on that red field,
Flash as in time gone by, --
Chased to the seas, without his shield
I saw the Persian fly.
I work, -- the sudden trumpet's blast
Called to another fight, --
From visions of our glorious past,
who doth not wake in might?





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