An "ode" poem by H.P. Lovecraft

 Lovecraft was very old fashioned. His style feels like it belongs somewhere in the Victorian period of literature than in the 1930s, which is odd, because many of his stories were set in contemporary times. Lovecraft actually considered himself a poet and felt very strongly that he wasn't that good of a fiction writer. This poem isn't indicative at all of H.P. Lovecraft's output nor is it a a great representation of his work as a whole. What it reveals, however, is Lovecraft's ability as a writer. He wrote sonnets(Shakespearean, if I'm not mistaken. I'll look it up later) and did so in a such a way that, like I said, felt like they belonged in a time long since past.

Ode for July Fourth, 1917
As Columbia’s brave scions, in anger array’d,
      Once defy’d a proud monarch and built a new nation;
’Gainst their brothers of Britain unsheath’d the sharp blade
      That hath ne’er met defeat nor endur’d desecration;
            So must we in this hour
            Show our valour and pow’r,
And dispel the black perils that over us low’r:
      Whilst the sons of Britannia, no longer our foes,
      Will rejoice in our triumphs and strengthen our blows!

See the banners of Liberty float in the breeze
      That plays light o’er the regions our fathers defended;
Hear the voice of the million resound o’er the leas,
      As the deeds of the past are proclaim’d and commended;
            And in splendour on high
            Where our flags proudly fly,
See the folds we tore down flung again to the sky:
      For the Emblem of England, in kinship unfurl’d,
      Shall divide with Old Glory the praise of the world!

Bury’d now are the hatreds of subject and King,
      And the strife that once sunder’d an Empire hath vanish’d.
With the fame of the Saxon the heavens shall ring
      As the vultures of darkness are baffled and banish’d;
            And the broad British sea,
            Of her enemies free,
Shall in tribute bow gladly, Columbia to thee:
      For the friends of the Right, in the field side by side,
      Form a fabric of Freedom no hand can divide! 

As a side note, I mentioned above that Lovecraft was old fashioned. He thought of himself as a loyalist to Britain, despite being an American. Lovecraft was odd, to say the least. This poem, if I am interpreting it correctly, is essentially anti-American. Or maybe it's about how great both Britain and America are. I don't know.