35 40 45 50 55 60 Each soldier's eye shall brightly turn Like shoots of flame on midnight's pall; Flag of the seas! on ocean's wave Shall look at once to heaven and thee, Flag of the free heart's hope and home! And all thy hues were born in heaven. Where breathes the foe but falls before us, And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us? Biographical and Historical: The name of Joseph Rodman Drake is inseparably associated with that of his friend, Fitz-Greene Halleck. Together they contributed a series of forty poems to the New York Evening Post. Among these was "The American Flag," the last four lines of which were written by Halleck, to replace those written by Drake: Warren's Address at the Battle of Bunker Hill 387 "As fixed as yonder orb divine, That saw thy bannered blaze unfurled, Shall thy proud stars resplendent shine, Drake was a youth of many graces of both mind and body, who wrote verses as a bird sings-for the pure joy of it. His career was cut short by death when he was only twenty-five years old. Of him Halleck wrote: "None knew thee but to love thee, On the martyred patriot's bed, And the rocks shall raise their head, Biographical and Historical: John Pierpont was a Unitarian clergyman of Connecticut, who published several volumes of poetry. General Joseph Warren was one of the generals in command of the patriot army at the battle of Bunker Hill, and was killed in the battle. He was counted one of the bravest and most unselfish patriots of the Revolutionary War. In this poem we have the poet's idea of how General Warren inspired his men. *Taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Joaquin Miller (copyrighted), by permission of The Whitaker & Ray Company. They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow, Until at last the blanched mate said: Should I and all my men fall dead. For God from these dread seas is gone, He said: "Sail on! sail on! and on!" They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate; With lifted teeth, as if to bite! Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck, A light! A light! A light! A light! It grew to be Time's burst of dawn. Biographical and Historical: Cincinnatus Heine Miller (Joaquin [hoa'kin] Miller) was born in Indiana in 1841. Joining the general movement to the West after the discovery of gold, his parents moved to the Pacific coast in 1850. "In point of power, workmanship, and feeling, among all the poems written by Americans, we are inclined to give first place to 'The Port of Ships,' or 'Columbus,' by Joaquin Miller."-London Athenaeum. |