Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TECUMSEH AND THE EAGLES, by BLISS CARMAN Poet's Biography First Line: Tecumseh of the shawnees Last Line: "ye will have lived in vain!" Variant Title(s): The War Cry Of The Eagles Subject(s): Freedom; World War I - Canada; Liberty | ||||||||
I TECUMSEH of the Shawnees He dreamed a noble dream, A league to hold their freedom old And make their peace supreme. He drew the tribes together And bound them to maintain Their sacred pact to stand and act For common good and gain. II The eagles taught Tecumseh The secret of their clan, A way to keep o'er plain and steep The liberty of Man. The champions of freedom They may not weary soon, Nor lay aside in foolish pride The vigilance of noon. Those teachers of Tecumseh Were up to meet the dawn, To scan the light and hold the height Till the last light was gone. Like specks upon the azure, Their guards patrolled the sky, To mount and plain and soar again And give the warning cry. They watched for lurking perils, The death that skulks and crawls, To take by stealth their only wealth On wind-swept mountain walls. They did not trust the shadows That sleep upon the hill; Where menace hid, where cunning slid, They struckand struck to kill. Through lonely space unmeasured They laid their sentry rings, Till every brood in eyrie rude Was shadowed by their wings. Tecumseh watched the eagles In summer o'er the plain, And learned their cry, "If freedom die, Ye will have lived in vain!" III The vision of Tecumseh, It could not long endure; He lacked the might to back the right And make his purpose sure. Tecumseh and his people Are gone; they could not hold Their league for good; their brotherhood Is but a tale that's told. IV The eagles of Tecumseh Still hold their lofty flight, And guard their own on outposts lone, Across the fields of light. They hold their valiant instinct And know their right of birth, They do not cede their pride of breed For things of little worth. They see on earth below them, Where time is but a breath, Another race brought face to face With liberty or death. Above a thousand cities A new day is unfurled, And still on high those watchers cry Their challenge o'er the world. Where patriots are marching And battle flags are borne, To South and North their cry goes forth To rally and to warn. From border unto border, They wheel and cry again That master cry, "If freedom die, Ye will have lived in vain!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LOVE THE WILD SWAN by ROBINSON JEFFERS AFTER TENNYSON by AMBROSE BIERCE QUARTET IN F MAJOR by WILLIAM MEREDITH CROSS THAT LINE by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE EMANCIPATION by ELIZABETH ALEXANDER A MORE ANCIENT MARINER by BLISS CARMAN |
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