George Pope Morris

George Pope Morris Poems

A monument to Washington?
A tablet graven with his name?--
Green be the mound it stands upon,
And everlasting as his fame!
...

Old Ironsides at anchor lay,
In the harbor of Mahon;
A dead calm rested on the bay--
The waves to sleep had gone;
...

An ivy-mantled cottage smiled,
Deep-wooded near a streamlet's side,
Where dwelt the village-pastor's child,
In all her maiden bloom and pride.
...

WOODMAN, spare that tree!
Touch not a single bough!
In youth it sheltered me,
And I'll protect it now.
...

Georgie, come home!--Life's tendrils cling about thee,
Where'er thou art, by wayward fancy led.
...

The morning is breaking--
The stag is away!
The hounds and the hunters
The signal obey!
...

Ho! brothers--come hither and list to my story--
Merry and brief will the narrative be.
Here, like a monarch, I reign in my glory--
...

Near the lake where drooped the willow,
Long time ago!--
Where the rock threw back the billow
Brighter than snow--
...

Two children of the olden time
In Flora's primrose season,
Were born. The name of one was Rhyme
That of the other Reason.
...

In the ranks of Marion's band,
Through morass and wooded land,
Over beach of yellow sand,
Mountain, plain, and valley,
...

'A song for our banner?'--The watchword recall
Which gave the Republic her station:
'United we stand--divided we fall!'--
...

We were boys together,
And never can forget
The school-house near the heather,
In childhood where we met;
...

Once in a time old Johnny Bull
Flew in a raging fury,
And swore that Jonathan should have
No trials, sir, by jury;
...

I'm much too young to marry,
For I am only seventeen;
Why think I, then, of Harry?
What can it mean--what can it mean?
...

Gushing from this living fountain,
Music pours a falling strain,
As the goddess of the mountain
Comes with all her sparkling train.
...

The star of love now shines above,
Cool zephyrs crisp the sea;
Among the leaves the wind-harp weaves
Its serenade for thee.
...

From Cypress and from laurel boughs
Are twined, in sorrow and in pride,
The leaves that deck the mouldering brows
...

Victorious the hero returns from the wars,
His brow bound with la ...
...

'Twas in the flush of summer-time,
Some twenty years or more,
When Ernest lost his way, and crossed
The threshold of our door.
...

Thank God for pleasant weather!
Chant it, merry rills!
And clap your hands together,
Ye exulting hills!
...

George Pope Morris Biography

George Pope Morris (October 10, 1802 – July 6, 1864) was an American editor, poet, and songwriter. With Nathaniel Parker Willis, he co-founded the daily New York Evening Mirror by merging his fledgling weekly New York Mirror with Willis's American Monthly in August 1831. Morris is credited with the longevity the Evening Mirror would enjoy and for giving it a wide scope, covering not only news and entertainment but reviews of the fine arts, editorials, and many original engravings. Morris also funded in advance Willis's trip to Europe, for which Willis wrote several letters to be published in the Mirror, which helped establish his fame. On January 29, 1845, the Evening Mirror published an "advance copy" of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven". It was the first publication of that poem with the author's name. The publishing partners also issued an anthology called The Prose and Poetry of America in 1845. Willis and Morris left the Mirror in 1846 and founded a new weekly, the National Press, which was renamed the Home Journal after eight months. Beginning in 1901, it was published as Town and Country and is still in print under that title today. Their prospectus for the publication, published November 21, 1846, announced their intentions to create a magazine "to circle around the family table". In addition to his publishing and editorial work, Morris was popular as a poet and songwriter; especially well-known was his poem-turned-song "Woodman, Spare that Tree!"[9] His songs in particular were popular enough that Graham's Magazine in Philadelphia promised Morris $50, sight unseen, for any work he wanted to publish in the periodical. "Woodman, Spare that Tree!" was first published in the January 17, 1837, issue of the Mirror under the title "The Oak" and was that year set to music by Henry Russell before being reprinted under its more common title in 1853. Lines from the poem are often quoted by environmentalists. The poem was also included in one of Morris's volumes of collected poems, The Deserted Bride and Other Poems, 1838, which ran into several editions. Morris was friends with artist Robert Walter Weir to whom he dedicated his only book of prose, The Little Frenchman and His Water Lots (1839). A collection of short stories and sketches, the little Frenchman of the title story was the victim of an unscrupulous dealer in real estate bordering Wallabout Bay, that was under water at high tide. Morris died July 6, 1864. Horace Binney Wallace wrote the introductory biographical notice for Morris's posthumous collected works.)

The Best Poem Of George Pope Morris

Washington's Monument.

A monument to Washington?
A tablet graven with his name?--
Green be the mound it stands upon,
And everlasting as his fame!

His glory fills the land--the plain,
The moor, the mountain, and the mart!
More firm than column, urn, or fane,
His monument--the human heart.

The Christian--patriot--hero--sage!
The chief from heaven in mercy sent;
His deeds are written on the age--
His country is his monument.

'The sword of Gideon and the Lord'
Was mighty in his mighty hand--
The God who guided he adored,
And with His blessing freed the land.

The first in war--the first in peace--
The first in hearts that freeman own;
Unparalleled till time shall cease--
He lives immortal and alone.

Yet let the rock-hewn tower arise,
High to the pathway of the sun,
And speak to the approving skies
Our gratitude to Washington.

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