HISTORICAL POEMS: Collections

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THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON Poetry/Poem by Sidney Lanier (1842-1881)

THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON Poetry/Poem by Sidney Lanier (1842-1881) NOW haste thee while the way is clear,Paul Revere!Haste, Dawes! but haste thee not, O Sun!To Lexington. Then Devens looked and saw the light:He got him forth into the night,And watched alone on the river-shore,And marked the British ferrying o’er. John Parker! rub thine eyes and …

THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS Poetry/Poem by Thomas Dunn English (1819-1902)

THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS Poetry/Poem by Thomas Dunn English (1819-1902) HERE, in my rude log cabin,Few poorer men there beAmong the mountain rangesOf Eastern Tennessee.My limbs are weak and shrunken,White hairs upon my brow,My dog — lie still, old fellow! —My sole companion now.Yet I, when young and lusty,Have gone through stirring scenes,For I …

THE BATTLE OF SALAMIS (from “The Persians” Poetry/Poem by Aeschylus

THE BATTLE OF SALAMIS (from “The Persians” Poetry/Poem by Aeschylus THE night was passing, and the Grecian hostBy no means sought to issue forth unseen.But when indeed the day with her white steedsHeld all the earth, resplendent to behold,First from the Greeks the loud-resounding dinOf song triumphant came; and shrill at onceEcho responded from the …

BOSTON Poetry/Poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

BOSTON Poetry/Poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) (Sicut Patribus, sit Deus Nobis) THE rocky nook with hilltops threeLooked eastward from the farms,And twice each day the flowing seaTook Boston in its arms;The men of yore were stout and poor,And sailed for bread to every shore. And where they went on trade intentThey did what freeman …

CASABIANCA Poetry/Poem by Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793-1835)

CASABIANCA Poetry/Poem by Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793-1835) THE boy stood on the burning deckWhence all but him had fled;The flame that lit the battle’s wreckShone round him o’er the dead. Yet beautiful and bright he stood,As born to rule the storm;A creature of heroic blood,A proud, though childlike form. The flames rolled on — he …

THE CUMBERLAND Poetry/Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

THE CUMBERLAND Poetry/Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) AT anchor in Hampton Roads we lay,On board of the Cumberland, sloop-of-war;And at times from the fortress across the bayThe alarum of drums swept past,Or a bugle blastFrom the camp on the shore. Then far away to the south uproseA little feather of snow-white smoke,And we knew …

THE EVE OF WATERLOO Poetry/Poem by Lord Byron (1788-1824)

THE EVE OF WATERLOO Poetry/Poem by Lord Byron (1788-1824) THERE was a sound of revelry by night,And Belgium’s capital had gathered thenHer beauty and her chivalry, and brightThe lamps shone o’er fair women and brave men.A thousand hearts beat happily; and whenMusic arose with its voluptuous swell,Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again,And …

Analysis of “Ivry” is from Ed. Rupert S. Holland.

This analysis of “Ivry” is reprinted from Historic Poems and Ballads. Ed. Rupert S. Holland. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co., 1912. THIS splendid poem tells of the battle of Ivry, fought in 1590 between the Huguenots, or Protestants, under Henry of Navarre, and the Catholics, led by the Duke of Mayenne. Navarre was a …

IVRY Poetry/Poem by Thomas Babbington Macaulay (1800-1859)

IVRY Poetry/Poem by Thomas Babbington Macaulay (1800-1859) NOW glory to the Lord of Hosts, from whom all glories are!And glory to our Sovereign Liege, King Henry of Navarre!Now let there be the merry sound of music and of dance,Through thy corn-fields green, and sunny vines, O pleasant land of France!And thou, Rochelle, our own Rochelle, …

A LITTLE band of English men and women

A LITTLE band of English men and women, who had left their homes because of religious persecution, sailed from Southampton, in England, on August 15, 1620. They had two vessels, the Mayflower and the Speedwell. The Speedwell soon proved unseaworthy and had to put back to Plymouth for repairs, while twelve of the thirty voyagers …

LANDING OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS Poetry/Poem by Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793-1835)

LANDING OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS Poetry/Poem by Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793-1835) THE breaking waves dashed highOn a stern and rock-bound coast,And the woods against a stormy skyTheir giant branches tossed; And the heavy night hung dark,The hills and waters o’er,When a band of exiles moored their barkOn the wild New England shore. Not as the …

THE British troops under General Howe made Philadelphia their headquarters during the winter of 1777-1778

THE British troops under General Howe made Philadelphia their headquarters during the winter of 1777-1778 THE British troops under General Howe made Philadelphia their headquarters during the winter of 1777-1778. They entered that city, which was the largest and most important in the thirteen states, on September 26, 1777, having defeated Washington’s army in a …

THE LITTLE BLACK-EYED REBEL Poetry/Poem by Will Carleton

THE LITTLE BLACK-EYED REBEL Poetry/Poem by Will Carleton A BOY drove into the city, his wagon loaded downWith food to feed the people of the British-governed town;And the little black-eyed rebel, so innocent and sly,Was watching for his coming from the corner of her eye. His face looked broad and honest, his hands were brown …

Introduction to “Marco Bozzaris” is Historic Poems and Ballads. Ed. Rupert S. Holland.

This introduction to “Marco Bozzaris” is reprinted from Historic Poems and Ballads. Ed. Rupert S. Holland. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co., 1912. AT the beginning of the nineteenth century Greece, which had once been one of the greatest countries in the world, was subject to the rule of her powerful neighbor, Turkey. But in …

MARCO BOZZARIS Poetry/Poem by Fitz-Greene Halleck (1790-1867)

MARCO BOZZARIS Poetry/Poem by Fitz-Greene Halleck (1790-1867) AT midnight, in his guarded tent,The Turk was dreaming of the hourWhen Greece, her knee in suppliance bent,Should tremble at his power;In dreams, through camp and court he boreThe trophies of a conqueror;In dreams, his song of triumph heard;Then wore his monarch’s signet-ring;Then press’d that monarch’s throne — …

Analysis of “Naseby” is reprinted from Historic Poems and Ballads. Ed. Rupert S. Holland. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co., 1912.

This analysis of “Naseby” is reprinted from Historic Poems and Ballads. Ed. Rupert S. Holland. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co., 1912. THIS poem represents the views of a Roundhead soldier who fought in the great civil war between King Charles I of England and the Parliamentary troops under Oliver Cromwell. Naseby is a small …

NASEBY Poetry/Poem by Thomas Babbington Macaulay (1800-1859)

NASEBY Poetry/Poem by Thomas Babbington Macaulay (1800-1859) OH! wherefore come ye forth in triumph from the north,With your hands, and your feet, and your raiment all red?And wherefore doth your rout send forth a joyous shout?And whence be the grapes of the wine-press that ye tread? Oh! evil was the root, and bitter was the …

Analysis of “Song of Marion’s Men” Historic Poems and Ballads. Ed. Rupert S. Holland.

This analysis of “Song of Marion’s Men” is reprinted from Historic Poems and Ballads. Ed. Rupert S. Holland. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co., 1912. THE British had succeeded in defeating most of the American troops in South Carolina by 1780, and had laid waste much of that state, confiscating plantations, burning houses, and hanging …

SONG OF MARION’S MEN Poetry/Poem by William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878)

SONG OF MARION’S MEN Poetry/Poem by William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) OUR band is few, but true and tried,Our leader frank and bold;The British soldier tremblesWhen Marion’s name is told.Our fortress is the good greenwood,Our tent the cypress-tree;We know the forest round us,As seamen know the sea;We know its walks of thorny vines,Its glades of reedy …

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER Poetry/Poem by Francis Scott Key (1779-1843)

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER Poetry/Poem by Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) O 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 fightO’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming!And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,Gave proof …

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