| 
 
|
Flint
and Feather
by
Emily Pauline Johnson
|
“AND
HE SAID, FIGHT ON”*
(Tennyson)
|
|
Time
and its ally, Dark Disarmament,
Have
compassed me about,
Have massed their armies, and on battle bent
My
forces put to rout;
But though I fight alone, and fall, and die,
|
5 |
Talk
terms of Peace? Not I.
They war upon my fortress, and their guns
Are
shattering its walls;
My army plays the cowards’ part, and runs,
Pierced
by a thousand balls;
|
10 |
They
call for my surrender. I reply,
“Give
quarter now? Not I.”
They’ve shot my flag to ribbons, but in rents
It
floats above the height;
Their ensign shall not crown my battlements
|
15 |
While
I can stand and fight.
I fling defiance at them as I cry,
“Capitulate?
Not I.” [Page 166]
|
|
* E.
Pauline Johnson died March 7th, 1913. Shortly
after the doctors told her that her illness would
be her final one, she wrote the above poem, taking
a line from Tennyson as her theme. [back] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
