Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DIALOGUE, AT HYDE-PARK CORNER, LONDON, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Let those, who will, be proud and sneer
Last Line: We'll stay and guard our native shore.
Subject(s): American Revolution; Burgoyne, John (1722-1792); Cornwallis, Charles (1738-1805)


Burgoyne.
LET those, who will, be proud and sneer,
And call you an unwelcome peer,
But I am glad to see you here:
The prince that fills the British throne,
Unless successful, honours none;
Poor Jack Burgoyne! -- you're not alone.


Cornwallis.
Thy ships, De Grasse, have caused my grief --
To rebel shores and their relief
There never came a luckier chief:
In fame's black page it shall be read,
By Gallic arms my soldiers bled --
The rebels thine in triumph led.


Burgoyne.
Our fortunes different forms assume: --
I called and called for elbow-room,
'Till GATES discharged me to my doom;
But you, that conquered far and wide,
In little York thought fit to hide,
The subject ocean at your side.


Cornwallis.
And yet no force had gained that post --
Not Washington, his country's boast,
Nor Rochambeau, with all his host,
Nor all the Gallic fleet's parade --
Had Clinton hurried to my aid,
And Sammy Graves been not afraid.


Burgoyne.
For head knocked off, or broken bones,
Or mangled corpse, no price atones;
Nor all that prattling rumour says,
Nor all the piles that art can raise,
The poet's or the parson's praise.


Cornwallis.
Though I am brave, as well as you,
Yet still I think your notion true;
Dear brother Jack, our toils are o'er --
With foreign conquests plagued no more,
We'll stay and guard our native shore.






Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net