James Jeffrey Roche Poems

There was no union in the land,
Though wise men labored long
...

This is the tale that was told to me,
By a battered and shattered son of the sea-
To me and my messmate, Silas Green,
...

It is better to die, since death comes surely,
In the full noontide of an honored name,
Than to lie at the end of years obscurely,
...

From the madding crowd they stand apart,
The maidens four and the Work of Art;

And none might tell from sight alone
...

Shall we, the storm-tossed sailors, weep
For those who may not sail again;
Or wisely envy them, and keep
Our pity for the living men?
...

To Amsterdam and its Commodore,
I over his pipe and his eau-de-vie,
A flibote skimming the Texel shore
...

Constitution
, where ye bound for?
Wherever, my lad, there's fight to be had,
...

Tell the story to your sons
Of the gallant days of yore
When the brig of seven guns
Fought the fleet of seven score,
...

In the gloomy ocean bed
Dwelt a formless thing, and said,
In the dim and countless eons long ago,
“I will build a stronghold high,
...

The net of law is spread so wide,
No sinner from its sweep may hide.

Its meshes are so fine and strong,
...