The Second Attempt, Opposed by Two of the Natives "There were but two, and we were forty! Yet," The Captain wrote, "that dauntless couple throve, And faced our wildering faces; and I said 'Lie to awhile!' I did not choose to let A strife go on of little worth to us. And so unequal! But the dying tread Of flying kinsmen moved them not: for wet With surf and wild with streaks of white and black The pair remained." -- O stout Caractacus! 'Twas thus you stood when Caesar's legions strove To beat their few, fantastic foemen back -- Your patriots with their savage stripes of red! To drench the stormy cliff and moaning cove With faithful blood, as pure as any ever shed. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CARGO MOVING TO GAZA (1988) by MARVIN BELL THE MERCY OF LAZARUS by STEPHEN DOBYNS IN EQUAL SACRIFICE by ROBERT FROST SUPREME by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE COLOR SERGEANT by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON WALT WHITMAN by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON |