A cento by Beverly Stock. Originally published on ClassicalPoets.org on October 3, 2019. It can be found here.
We’ll sing a song to suit the times, (Taylor-Stanza 1)
With voices bold and steady,
And cheerily we’ll tell in rhymes
Of good old rough and ready.
There’s a war-cry from Chicago, (Taft-Stanza 2)
That’s spread unto the sea,
A summons to the battle,
For the galant and the free.
Thank God that we are free men, (Taft- Stanza 3)
And can vote for whom we will.
We spread our starry banner
Freely forth from dome to hill.
Success to the old fashioned doctrines, (Lincoln- Stanza 4)
That men are created all free.
And down with the power of the despot,
Wherever his stronghold may be.
We’ll finish the temple of freedom, (Lincoln- Stanza 5)
And make it capacious within.
That all who seek shelter may find it,
whatever the hue of their skin.
* A Cento, also known as a collage or patchwork poem, is a work composed of verses or passages taken from other authors. My poem, Political Voice, contains combined poetry all found in the public domain.
Taylor, ” Rough and Ready,” written for Zachary Taylor’s 1848 US Presidential campaign.
Taft, “Our Good and Honest Taft,” written about Howard Taft’s 1908 US
Presidential campaign.
Lincoln, “Lincoln and Liberty," published in Hutchinson’s Republican Songster of 1860, for Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 US Presidential campaign.
Attributions are as follows:
(Taylor-stanza 1)
(Taft- stanza 2)
(Taft-stanza 3)
(Lincoln-stanza 4)
(Taylor- stanza 1)
(Lincoln- stanza 4)
(Lincoln- stanza 6)
(Taft- stanza 2)