Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE SPIRIT OF THE MAINE, by TUDOR JENKS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SPIRIT OF THE MAINE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In battle-line of sombre gray
Last Line: The spirit of the maine!
Subject(s): Cuba; Maine (ship); Naval Blockades; Patriotism; Spanish-american War (1898)


IN battle-line of sombre gray
Our ships-of-war advance,
As Red Cross Knights in holy fray
Charged with avenging lance.
And terrible shall be thy plight,
O fleet of cruel Spain!
Forever in our van doth fight
The spirit of the Maine!

As when beside Regillus Lake
The Great Twin Brethren came
A righteous fight for Rome to make
Against the Deed of Shame --
So now a ghostly ship shall doom
The fleet of treacherous Spain:
Before her guilty soul doth loom
The spirit of the Maine!

A wraith arrayed in peaceful white,
As when asleep she lay
Above the traitorous mine that night
Within Havana Bay,
She glides before the avenging fleet,
A sign of woe to Spain.
Brave though her sons, how shall they meet
The spirit of the Maine!





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