Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TEMPERANCE WARFARE, by JANET HAMILTON Poet's Biography First Line: Arouse ye! Arouse ye! The foe is at large Last Line: As a christian mother devoted to duty. Alternate Author Name(s): Hamilton, Janet Thompson Subject(s): England; Temperance; War; English; Prohibition | ||||||||
AROUSE ye! arouse ye! the foe is at large, Again and again we must come to the charge, Oh! hotly pursue, and fearless attack The blood of his victims is red on his track. Our wives are dishonoured, our children are slain By thousandswe labour, but often in vain, For the plundering foe still devours the proceeds, Till nothing is left us but sorrows and needs. We must take his strongholds, put his garrisons down, And pull down his ensigns in village and town; But this is the victory, most glorious of all, Exile him for ever from homestead and hall. Ye matrons and maidens of Britain, to you I would speak, as a sister, most faithful and true To all your best interests. I beg you to hear, By all you hold sacred, by all you hold dear. 'Tis foundoh, alas! it should ever be so That many amongst us are leagued with the foe, Give harbour, and homage, and serve him as slaves, Till bleeding and stumbling they crawl to their grave. And oft with the dear names of mother and wife, Entrusted by Heaven with the mind and the life Of your children, a household, to care for and serve, You pamper the foe while they shiver and starve. Dear sisters, I would, but I cannot, conceal The guilt and the folly you often reveal Intemperance, and many a fatal neglect, That ever the progress of mankind must check. For who but a mother her dear little girl Will lovingly teach her the ruin and peril Of wanton exposure, the dark deeds of shame, That blot the fair scutcheon of Scotia's fame? The many small fripperiesworthless for use Your girls delight in, are but an abuse Of time, and a sorry perversion of taste, While the needful and useful are running to waste. Precious the ruby, and pure is the pearl More precious and pure is an innocent girl; And earth holds no gem of such value and beauty As a Christian mother devoted to duty. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ODE FOR A SOCIAL MEETING, WITH SLIGHT ALTERATIONS BY A TEETOTALER by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES TEMPER by CLARA EXLINE BOCKOVEN A TRUCKER DRIVES THROUGH HIS LOST YOUTH by DAVID BOTTOMS THE FIGHTING WORD by BERTON BRALEY THE METHOD OF THE MAD MULLAH by BERTON BRALEY ON A PROHIBITIONIST POEM by GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON A MAIDEN'S DREAM by ROBERT GREENE OUR PROGRAM by ARTHUR GUITERMAN A BALLAD FOUNDED ON A REAL INCIDENT WHICH OCCURED IN HIGH LIFE by JANET HAMILTON |
|