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?
...

Oh, if the world were mine, Love,
I'd give the world for thee!
Alas! there is no sign, Love,
...

THE LOVE of man and woman is as fire,
To warm, to light, but surely to consume
And self-consuming die. There is no room
...

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,
...