Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, RETROGRESSION, by CONDE BENOIST PALLEN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

RETROGRESSION, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: We gave a solemn pledge, and called on heaven
Last Line: And 'gainst her turn her own ensanguined steel!
Subject(s): Spanish-american War (1898)


We gave a solemn pledge, and called on Heaven
To hear; our arms, we swore, were Freedom's own,
To Freedom consecrate, and her alone;
Our valour sprung from her chaste bosom, given
To Freedom's cause forever; and her levin
We forged upon the footsteps of her throne;
Her sword unclasping from her zone,
She placed within our hands, and blessed us shriven.

O solemn mockery of her holy trust!
Our troth forgot and slaked our noble zeal,
Our brittle honour shattered in the dust!
A riotous people drunk with conquest's lust,
In bacchanalian rout we onward reel,
And 'gainst her turn her own ensanguined steel!





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