Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE PRISON SHIPS, 1776, by THOMAS WALSH First Line: O martyrdom of hope!-to lie Last Line: Holds back to god,earth's brightest answering star. Alternate Author Name(s): Gill, Roderick; Strange, Garrett Subject(s): Monuments; New York City - Revolutionary Period; Prison Ships; Ships & Shipping | ||||||||
O martyrdom of hope!to lie In youth and strengthand die 'Mid rotting hulks that once by every sea And star swung carelessly To die becalmed in war's black hell, Where in the noon's wide blaze your hearts could soar With gull and eagle by each cherished shore Of homewhere ye had sworn to dwell The fathers of the free. Blessed and radiant now!look down In consecration of the solemn deed Which here commemorates this iron breed Of martyrs nameless in the clay As the true heroes of our newer day World heroespatterned not on king and demi-god Of charioted splendor or of crown Blood crustedbut on toilers in the sod, On reapers of the sea, on lovers of mankind, Whose bruisèd shoulders bear The lumbering wain of progressall who share The crust and sorrows of our mortal lot Lamps of the soul The Christ hath left behind To light the path whereon He faltered not. And ye, O sailors faring buoyant forth, Bear ye the tidings of this joy-swept main Where round the coasts of Celt or Dane Ye brave the sleet-mouthed north Or track the moon on some Sicilian wave Or lonely cape of Spain; Take ye the story of these comrades true Whose prison hulks sank here Where now such tides of men are poured As never surged o'er crag or fiord To stay the gulls with fear Who yet such quest of glory know As never Argonaut of old Seeking the shores of gold As never knight from wound and vigil pale Tracing o'er sunset worlds his Holy Grail. And lo!to all the seas a pharos set In sign memorial! Through the glooms of Time 'Twill teach a sacrifice of self sublime O'er lash of storms as through corroding calms, Nor e'er alone shall shine Its love-bright parapet; But every star shall bring a golden alms; The seething harbour line Glow 'neath its star-fed hives, its swing and flare Of Bridges;while with pilgrim lamps from sea Shall grope the Dreadnought fleets;while endless prayer Of dawns and sunsets floods the faces far Uplifted, tear-stained, to this Martyr shrine Whose sister torch shall greet what Liberty Holds back to God,earth's brightest answering star. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LIVE IT THROUGH by DAVID IGNATOW THE SHIP POUNDING by DONALD HALL ULTRAISTA ONEIRIC by ANSELM HOLLO THE NORTH SHIP by PHILIP LARKIN GOOD SHIPS by JOHN CROWE RANSOM A BALLAD OF OLD POPE JOHN by THOMAS WALSH |
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