Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IF I SHOULD CARVE A LINCOLN, by DOUGLAS MALLOCH


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IF I SHOULD CARVE A LINCOLN, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: If I should carve a lincoln, I would take
Last Line: Some new gibraltar, by our western sea.
Subject(s): Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865); Presidents, United States


If I should carve a Lincoln, I would take
No snow-white marble, but a rugged rock,
One that the frosts of Winter could not break,
That had withstood the ocean's thundering shock,
Some solid rock amid the shifting sands,
Unmoved by storm, unaltered by the wave,
Some granite giant that forever stands
To mark the harbor with a light to save.

If I should carve a Lincoln, I would shape
Some promontory lifting from the sea,
Standing as Lincoln stood, a mighty cape
Thrust forward into time a century,
Looking, as Lincoln looked, beyond the shore,
Across the ocean of the future years,
A rock to stand for men forevermore
And point the way to other pioneers.

If I should carve a Lincoln, I would form
A figure from a rock that loved the sun,
A rock that glistened after every storm
And smiled with verdure when the rain was done,
A rock where little children came to play
And violets to blossom on the slope,
That found, like Lincoln, humor in each day,
In words of humor finding words of hope.

If you would carve a Lincoln, such a stone
You will require, O sculptor, for your art,
Some stone gigantic standing thus alone,
High as his mind, and broad as Lincoln's heart.
We may not hope to shape with human hands
A fit memorial for such as he --
Leave Time to carve it from some rock that stands,
Some new Gibraltar, by our western sea.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


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