Valentine To Fitz-Greene Halleck Poem by Grace Greenwood

MUST silence rest upon thy lyre,
And will thy hand awake it never?
And must the great deeps of thy soul
Remain becalmed for ever?

O for a midnight storm of song!
The peal of arms, the blaze of glory,
Like that which once aroused a world, —
Thy Grecian hero's story!

O for a generous burst of song!
Like that which once new splendor shed
Round the 'pilgrim shrine' of a poet's grave,
And deified the dead!

O for a mirth-born 'Fanny,' sent,
That troubled lives, half unawares,
Might take in dancing shapes of joy,
And banish spectre cares!

0 for a lay, to crown the brave! —
Or rosy wreaths of love to twine,
To ring joy's bells, or start grief's tear,
If only it be thine!

Be hero-bard, — be minstrel gay, —
Thy song, if of thy soul a part,
Must bear a charmèd life, and live
Within thy country's heart.