On The Road To Richmond
Give me angel wing and eye,
Give me arm and strength Herculean;
With the speed of light I’ll fly—
Not to yonder bright cerulean.
Westward far my flight should be,
O’er the wide and wild Atlantic;
I the fated land would see
Drunk with blood whose sons are frantic.
Horror, fed on carnage, lowers
O’er corruption rankly steaming;
O’er Virginia’s Eden bowers
I the fated land would see
Drunk with blood whose sons are frantic.
Horror, fed on carnage, lowers
O’er corruption rankly steaming;
O’er Virginia’s Eden bowers
Thousand vultures hover screaming.
In one gory mass they lie—
Husband, father, son, and lover—
Festering ‘neath a burning sky,
Earth no more her slain can cover.
Crippled victims, weak and wan,
Back a ghastly tide are flowing;
Angel eyes will weep to scan
Bootless slaughter onward going.
See, recording angels stand
On each side of death’s dark portals,
Noting with unerring hand
Entering hordes of ghastly mortals.
From a cloud-capp’d tower I gaze,
From the battle field arising
Myriad souls, with dread amaze,
I behold—my soul surprising.
Civil War, thou demon fell,
Shall thy bloody hand for ever
Ring the dreadful tocsin bell?
Britain’s heart-strings quail and quiver.
War, thou Lern
(Janet Hamilton)
More Poetry from Janet Hamilton:
Janet Hamilton Poems based on Topics: War & Peace, Death & Dying, Soul, Light, Sons, Fathers, Angels, Citizenship- Sketches of Village Character In Days "O' Langsyne" (Janet Hamilton Poems)
- A Wheen Aul' Memories (Janet Hamilton Poems)
- Mary Lee: A Ballad (Janet Hamilton Poems)
- A Ballad (Janet Hamilton Poems)
- The Ballad O' Mary Muiren (Janet Hamilton Poems)
- Grannie's Crack Aboot The Famine In Auld Scotlan' In 1739-40 (Janet Hamilton Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Light Poems, Death & Dying Poems, Soul Poems, War & Peace Poems, Sons Poems, Fathers Poems, Angels Poems, Citizenship PoemsBased on Keywords: herculean, lie-, rankly, fly-, behold-, lover-, lern, cloud-capp