Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO THE FIRST GUN, by ROBERT UNDERWOOD JOHNSON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO THE FIRST GUN, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Speak, silent, patient gun!
Last Line: Of all thy comrades, best.
Subject(s): World War I; First World War


SPEAK, silent, patient gun!
And let thy mighty voice
Proclaim the deed is done --
Made is the nobler choice;
To every waiting people run
And bid the world rejoice.

Tell them our heaving heart
Has found its smiting hand,
That craves to be a part
Of the divine command.
Speak, prove us more than ease or mart,
And vindicate the land.

Thine shall the glory be
To mark the sacred hour
That testifies the free
Will neither cringe nor cower.
God give thy voice divinity,
That Right be armed with Power.

Thou art not lifeless steel
With but a number given,
But messenger of weal
Hot with the wrath of Heaven.
Go earn the right to Honor's seal --
To have for Honor striven.

Lead us in holy ire
The path our fathers trod;
The music of thy fire
Shall thrill them through the sod.
The smoke of all thy righteous choir
Is incense unto God.

And when long Peace is found
And thou hast earned thy rest,
And in thy cave of sound
The sparrow builds her nest,
By Liberty shalt thou be crowned
Of all thy comrades, best.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net