ON every schoolhouse, ship, and staff From 'Frisco clear to Marblehead, Let droop the starry banner now, In sorrow for our sailors dead. Half-mast! Half-mast! o'er all the land; The verdict wait; your wrath restrain; Half-mast for all that gallant band -- The sailors of the Maine! Not till a treachery is proved His sword the patriot soldier draws; War is the last alternative -- Be patient till ye know the cause. Meanwhile -- Half-mast o'er all the land! The verdict wait; your wrath restrain; Half-mast! for all that gallant band -- The martyrs of the Maine! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE FARMER'S BRIDE by CHARLOTTE MEW INVITATION TO A PAINTER: 2 by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM TO THE CASTLE OF DONEGAL by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM MERCY PLEADS by LUCRETIA STOUT BELLOWS TO ROBERT BURNS; AN EPISTLE ON INSTINCT by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES THE WEAKEST THING by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING DEBORAH LEE by WILLIAM HENRY BURLEIGH |