Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE MEN OF WINDSOR, by ARTHUR WENTWORTH HEWITT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE MEN OF WINDSOR, by                    
First Line: Why wage these men of windsor
Last Line: Whatever joys they want!
Subject(s): Vermont; Windsor, Vermont


Why wage these men of Windsor,
Till all the week goes by,
Debate and counter-question,
Opinion and reply,
The weary men of Windsor,
In torrid fierce July?

They frame the Constitution
Of God's Green Mountain State,
Predestined down the ages
To make her honor great—
But hark! A horse at gallop
Has halted the debate!

On hurling heels, and haunches
That reek with flecks of foam,
The charger brings its rider,
By rock and road and loam,
To warn the men of Windsor
Of doom that waits at home.

Then outspake Joseph Bowker,
"What message can you bring?
Upon your face is terror,
You ride with speed of wing!"
The messenger made answer,
"The triumph of the king!

"From old Ticonderoga
The soldiers of St. Clair
Have fled!" Here Joseph Bowker
Clutched fingers in his hair—
He saw his home defenceless
And his beloved there!

Now hark! A horse at gallop,
More furious than the first,
Has stopped! Its rider staggers,
Exhausted and athirst,
Into that wild convention,—
"I bring you news accurst!

"At Hubbardton the Hessians
Around us swarm like flies.
We have eight hundred only
Against them to arise.
Seth Warner sends for rescue,
And Colonel Francis dies!"

Wild went the men of Windsor,
And some were heard to swear,
And some but clenched their fingers,
And some had turned to prayer,
When outspake Joseph Bowker,
Presiding in his chair.

"Let order be, and silence!
Disaster falls, but then
What think ye is our duty
As patriotic men?
What say you, Ira Allen,
And Thomas Chittenden?"

Then outspake Ira Allen,
"Now comes the time to fight,
And when the sword is victor
The pen again may write!"
And the men of Windsor shouted
Approval with their might.

Then Chittenden, arising
With royal form and tall,
Asked other news of battle,
But outspake one and all,
Demanding swift adjournment
Until the foe should fall.

Then outspake God Jehovah,
In thunder from the sky!
Blue lightning danced like devils
Zigzag afar and nigh!
From clouds as black as midnight
The winds went raging by!

Then lifted God Jehovah
His lone Almighty hand,
And turned the torrents downward
Upon the drenching land.
The road became a river,
The yard became a strand!

But while the zigzag lightning
Went leaping, thunder-shod,
Low bowed the men of Windsor,
Before the will of God.
"Here let us do our duty,
Who may not ride abroad!"

Again their constitution,
In sections, one by one,
The men of Windsor studied
Until the day was done.
"Stand, all who vote in favor!"
Opposing there were none!

God rest the men of Windsor,
Who named our state Vermont!
(The first between the oceans
Without a slave to vaunt.)
God give them all in Paradise
Whatever joys they want!





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