“Robert E. Lee” by James A. DeMoss
Saturday, March 14th, 2009
On one hand, the following poem is about a wrecked and burned-out steamboat. On the other, it’s about Robert E. Lee’s “immortal” name. The fact that it’s about both makes one suspect sarcasm. But DeMoss published the poem in the 1890s, during the heyday of Reconciliation; I’m therefore confident that he was sincere in his sentiments about Lee being “the bravest/Of all men that grew.” Enjoy this rare nautical tribute to Lee!
ROBERT E. LEE
(Steamer foundered off Vicksbury, Sept. 30, ‘82.)
On, thou proud Robert Lee,
No longer you’ll plow
The deep river so free,
With thy proud heaving prow.
Thy beauty, thy splendor,
Thy grandeur, thy fame,
Have perished___and tender
We handle thy name.
Brave one of tho bravest,
Brave captain, brave crew;
Thy namesake the bravest
Of all men that grew.
No more on the river
So glassy and smooth,
Will float thou, no never,
And o’er its deep move.
How long you have traveled
From the gulf to mid land;
All others out-rivaled
On the sweet silvered strand.
Thy days now are numbered,
Though thy name will e’er last;
On the page it is numbered
Of the immortal past.
The flames have consumed thee,
And laid thee awaste;
But thy name, Robert Lee,
It can never efface.
– James A. DeMoss, from Kansas Zephyrs (1892)