Arms And The Man. - The War Horse Draws The Plough.

At last our Fathers saw the Treaty sealed,
Victory unhelmed her broad, majestic brow,
The Sword became a Sickle in the field,
        The war horse drew the plough.

There is a time when men shape for their Land
Its institutions 'mid some tempests' roar,
Just as the waves that thunder on the strand
        Shape out and round the shore.

Then comes a day when institutions turn
And carve the men, or cast them into moulds;
One Era trembles while volcanoes burn,
        Another Age beholds

The hardened lava changed to hills and leas,
With blooming glades and orchards intermixed,
Vineyards which look abroad o'er purple seas,
        And deep foundations fixed.

So, when fell Chaos like a baleful Fate
What we had won seemed bent to snatch away
Sound thinkers rose who fashioned out the State
        As potters fashion clay.

James Barron Hope

James Barron Hope was an American poet, lawyer, and orator, celebrated for his patriotic verse and speeches, particularly those pertaining to Virginia's history. Born on March 23, 1829, in Virginia, he became known for his eloquence and literary gifts. His works often reflected the Southern heritage and the tumultuous period of the American Civil War. Hope's contributions to American literature remain a testament to his skill and devotion to his craft. He passed away on September 15, 1887.

James Barron Hope

To The Poet-Priest Ryan. In Acknowledgment Of A Copy Of His Poems.

James Barron Hope, Simple Poetry

The Portsmouth Memorial Poem. - The Future Historian.

James Barron Hope, Simple Poetry

Arms And The Man. - Storming The Redoubts.

James Barron Hope, Simple Poetry

Arms And The Man. - The Colonies.

James Barron Hope, Simple Poetry

English

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Arms And The Man. - The Ravages Of War.

This on the water: on the land a scene
Whose Epic scope is far beyond my power,
For on this spot a People's fate hath been
Decided in an hour.

Long was the conflict waged through weary years
Counted from when the sturdy farmers fell:
Hopes crucified, red trenches, bitter tears,
Made Man another hell!

See pallid women girt in woe and weeds!
See little children gaunt for lack of food!
Behold the catalogue of War's black deeds
        Where evil stands for good!

See slaughtered cattle, never more to roam,
Rot in the fields, while chimneys tall and bare
Tell in dumb pathos how some quiet home
        Lit up the midnight air!

See that burnt crop, yon choked-up sylvan well,
This yeoman slain ye corven in the sun!
My GOD! shreds of a...

James Barron Hope

Arms And The Man. - Prologue.

Full-burnished through the long-revolving years
The ploughshare of a Century to-day
Runs peaceful furrows where a crop of Spears
Once stood in War's array.

And we, like those who on the Trojan plain
See hoary secrets wrenched from upturned sods; -
Who, in their fancy, hear resound again
The battle-cry of gods; -

We now, - this splendid scene before us spread
Where Freedom's full hexameter began -
Restore our Epic, which the Nations read
As far its thunders ran.

Here visions throng on People and on Bard,
Ranks all a-glitter in battalions massed
And closed around as like a plumèd guard,
They lead us down the Past.

I see great Shapes in vague confusion march
Like giant shadows, moving vast and slow,
Beneath some torch-lit temple'...

James Barron Hope

Arms And The Man. - The Ancient Enemies.

Brave was the foeman! well he held his ground!
But here defeat at kindred hands he found!
The shafts rained on him, in a righteous cause,
Came from the quiver of Old England's laws!

He fought in vain; and on this spot went down
The jus divinum, and the kingly crown.
But for those scenes Time long has made amends.
The ancient enemies are present friends;
Two swords, in Massachusetts, rich in dust,
And, better still, the peacefulness of rust,
Told the whole story in its double parts
To one who lives in two great nations' hearts;
And late above Old England's roar and din
Slow-tolling bells spoke sympathy of kin:
Victoria's wreath blooms on the sleeping breast
Of him just gone to his reward and rest,
And firm and fast between two mighty Powers
Ne...

James Barron Hope

Arms And The Man. - The Two Leaders.

Two chieftains watch the battle's tide and listen as it rolls
And only HEAVEN above can tell the tumult of their souls!

Cornwallis saw the British power struck down by one fell blow,
A Gallic spearhead on the lance that laid the Lion low.

But the Father of his Country saw the future all unrolled,
Independence blazed before him written down in text of gold,

Like the Hebrew, on the mountain, looking forward then he saw
The Promised Land of Freedom blooming under Freedom's law;

Saw a great Republic spurring in the lists where Nations ride,
The peer of any Power in her majesty and pride;

Saw that young Republic gazing through her helmet's gilded bars
Toward the West all luminous with th' light of coming stars;

From Atlantic to Pacific saw her banne...

James Barron Hope

Arms And The Man. - The Beginning Of The End.

As some spent gladiator, struck by Death,
Whose reeling vision scarce a foe defines,
For one last effort gathers all his breath,
England draws in her lines.

Her blood-red flag floats out full fair, but flows
O'er crumbling bastions, in fictitious state:
Who stands a siege Cornwallis full well knows,
        Plays at a game with Fate.

Siege means surrender at the bitter end,
From Ilium downward such the sword-made rule,
With few exceptions, few indeed amend
    This law in any school!

The student who for these has ever sought
'Mid his exceptions Cæsar counts as one,
Besieger and besieged he, victor, fought
Under a Gallic sun.

For Vircinget'rex failed, but at the wall:
He strove and failed gilded by Glory's rays
So that true sol...

James Barron Hope

Arms And The Man. - The Southern Colonies.

Then sweeping down below Virginia's Capes,
From Chesapeake to where Savannah flows,
We find the settlers laughing 'mid their grapes
And ignorant of snows.

The fragrant uppowock, and golden corn
Spread far a-field by river and lagoon,
And all the months poured out from Plenty's Horn
Were opulent as June.

Yet, they had tragedies all dark and fell!
Lone Roanoke Island rises on the view,
And this Peninsula its tale could tell
Of Opecancanough!

But, when the Ocean thunders on the shore
Its waves, though broken, overflow the beach;
So here our Fathers on and onward bore
With English laws and speech.

Kind skies above them, underfoot rich soils;
Silence and Savage at their presence fled;
This Giant's Causeway, sacred through th...

James Barron Hope