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Uncle Sam’s Tomb

after Samuel Coleridge’s “The Knight’s Tomb” (see below)

Where will the grave of that great figurehead be,
That leader of free men and symbol of might,
That vision of justice in our country so free,
Great defender of all that is wholesome and right?
Can he be entombed in some flower-filled bower,
A plot with a stone, or a crumbling tower?
No, this symbol of freedom cannot ever die,
Will not be destroyed, as hard as they try.
__A metaphor,
__Yet so much more;
As valid now, as in days of yore.

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The Knight’s Tomb

by Samuel Coleridge (1772-1834)

Where is the grave of Sir Arthur O’Kellyn?
Where may the grave of that good man be?—
By the side of a spring, on the breast of Helvellyn,
Under the twigs of a young birch tree!
The oak that in summer was sweet to hear,
And rustled its leaves in the fall of the year,
And whistled and roared in the winter alone,
Is gone,—and the birch in its stead is grown.—
__The Knight’s bones are dust,
__And his good sword rust;—
His soul is with the saints, I trust.

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Phil S. Rogers is a sixth generation Vermonter, age 72, now retired, and living in Texas. He served in the United States Air Force and had a career in real estate and banking.  He previously published Everlasting Glory, a historical work that tells the story of each of the men from Vermont that was awarded the Congressional Medal Of Honor during the Civil War.

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5 Responses

  1. Cheryl Corey

    I enjoyed both. Have you ever written anything on Vermont’s founder Ethan Allen (born in Litchfield, CT, in the northwest corner of the state) and his Green Mountain Boys? It must be quite a change to go from living in the hills and mountains of Vermont to being a Texas flatlander.

    Reply
  2. Phil S. Rogers

    Cheryl;
    I also write poems for Vermont’s Northland Journal, published out of Derby, Vt. It is a different type of poetry, aimed for an older audience of native Vermonters and their families. It takes in the era of people that lived from the late 1800’s to about 1950. Subjects like one room schools, logging camps, deer hunting, rolling the roads.
    As for Texas, it is much like Vermont used to be before it died. My family had been there since 1783, but Vermont for people like me no longer exists.

    Reply
  3. Mike Bryant

    Phil, I found this poem filled with poetic device, beautiful and hopeful. I pray that you’re right and I pray that Texas might be part of the beginning of a return to sanity. Glad you’re here.

    Reply
    • Phil S. Rogers

      Mike; Thank you for the nice comments. GLAD TO BE HERE. Great people here in north east Texas, hard working, considerate, and with common sense.

      Reply
  4. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    What a bright and beautiful poetic vision of hope in an increasingly dark world. I’ve lived in Texas for over a decade now and it’s an honor to be here, although I am sad to say, I can see areas of it succumbing to the same idiotic bureaucracy as Britain (my homeland). Let’s hope Uncle Sam can hang on to our freedoms. Thank you very much for this uplifting poem, Phil.

    Reply

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