SATURDAY, JULY 6, 2024 PATRIOTIC POEMS

 SATURDAY, JULY 6, 2024 PATRIOTIC POEMS

I’ve been trying some poetry on Saturdays - so with this Fourth of July Week, I’ve picked a few patriotic poems

PAUL REVERE’S RIDE - HENRY W. LONGFELLOW

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five:
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend, “If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch
Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light,—
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country-folk to be up and to arm.”

…

So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,—
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

*****

Modern historians suggest that there were other riders that night - but Paul Revere gets the publicity in the poem!!

*****

I HEAR AMERICA SINGING - WALT WHITMAN

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,

Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,

The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,

The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,

The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,

The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,

The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,

The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,

Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,

The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,

Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

**

We have been an industrial country.  Today it seems many of our great products are now made by robots - or made in China (and other places).  In Georgetown Texas, those workers are still busy - the carpenter building new houses, the roofers, the plumbers, electricians, dump trucks, road builders - and the clerks, doctors, nurses, teachers, and so many more.

*****

THE BATTLE FOR CONCORD - RALPH WALDO EMERSON

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set today a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

*****

THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER - FRANCIS SCOTT KEY

Oh say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,

O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen thru the mists of the deep,

Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines on the stream;

‘Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand

Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!

Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land

Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

**
Yes, we listen to the first verse (I think we should sing it out).  But, verses two and three also speak of our history

*****

THE NEW COLOSSUS - EMMA LAZARUS

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows worldwide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

**
I’ve written about the New Colossus before.  The words are inscribed on the Status of Liberty.

“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddles masses yearning to breathe free.  The wretched refuse of your teeming short. Send these, the homeless tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door”.

And, now, we are fighting to keep “the tired and the poor, those that want to breathe free, the wretched people on our southern border” - out of our country.  Even to building a wall - and putting up concertina wire!!!

*****

GOD BLESS AMERICA - IRVING BERLIN

While the storm clouds gather 

Far across the sea, 

Let us swear allegiance 

To a land that’s free. 

Let us all be grateful

 For a land so fair, 

As we raise our voices. 

In a solemn prayer. 

God bless America, 

Land that I love, 

Stand beside her and guide her 

Through the night with a light from above;

 From the mountains, to the prairies, 

To the oceans white with foam, 

God bless America, 

My home, sweet home. 

God bless America, 

My home, sweet home. 

*****

Yes, I’m an American - but I’m also a citizen of the World.  I love all peoples in all lands - because I have to!!!

“All men are created equal” 

*****

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

Karen Anne White, July 6, 2024