Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE SHIP OF LIBERTY; LINES ON THE LAUNCHING OF THE 'NEWBURGH', by ROBERT UNDERWOOD JOHNSON



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SHIP OF LIBERTY; LINES ON THE LAUNCHING OF THE 'NEWBURGH', by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O ship of liberty!
Last Line: Our hearts go forth with thee.
Subject(s): Ships & Shipping; World War I; First World War


O SHIP of Liberty!
Our hearts go forth with thee.

Not with the thunder of guns
Shalt thou assault the Huns;
Not through the winter drear
Shalt thou keep vigil clear
Where lies the caged foe,
His fleet a futile show;
Not thine to leap the wave
With instinct of the brave,
Hunting the hidden craft
That aims the coward shaft.

No; but not less thine aid
To Freedom's cause is made.
Across the winter waste
Thy eager breath shall haste
To bear our heart-sent food
To Freedom's brotherhood;
To take thy share of souls
That Freedom war-ward rolls --
The strange, new tide that breaks
On France's shore and shakes
From their foundation stones
The tottering Teuton thrones.

O Ship of Liberty!
Our hearts go forth with thee.





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