Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, RIEL, THE REBEL, by CINCINNATUS HEINE MILLER


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RIEL, THE REBEL, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: He died at dawn in the land of snows
Last Line: And its thousand banners flying!
Alternate Author Name(s): Miller, Joaquin
Subject(s): Canada; Freedom; Riel, Louis (1844-1885); Canadians; Liberty


He died at dawn in the land of snows;
A priest at the left, a priest at the right;
The doomed man praying for his pitiless foes,
And each priest holding a low dim light,
To pray for the soul of the dying.
But Windsor Castle was far away;
And Windsor Castle was never so gay
With her gorgeous banners flying!

The hero was hung in the windy dawn --
'Twas splendidly done, the telegraph said;
A creak of the neck, then the shoulders drawn;
A heave of the breast -- and the man hung dead,
And, oh! never such valiant dying!
While Windsor Castle was far away
With its fops and fools on that windy day,
And its thousand banners flying!





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