Helen Gray Cone

Helen Gray Cone (March 8, 1859 – January 31, 1934) was an American poet and professor of English literature. She spent her entire career at Hunter College in New York City.

Quotes

Bind her, grind her, burn her with fire,
Cast her ashes into the sea, —
She shall escape, she shall aspire,
She shall arise to make men free:
She shall arise in a sacred scorn,
Lighting the lives that are yet unborn;
Spirit supernal, splendor eternal,
England!
  • Shatter her beauteous breast ye may;
    The Spirit of England none can slay!
    Dash the bomb on the dome of Paul's, —
    Deem ye the fame of the Admiral falls?
    Pry the stone from the chancel floor, —
    Dream ye that Shakespeare shall live no more?
    Where is the giant shot that kills
    Wordsworth walking the old green hills?
    Trample the red rose on the ground, —
    Keats is Beauty while earth spins round!
    Bind her, grind her, burn her with fire,
    Cast her ashes into the sea, —
    She shall escape, she shall aspire,
    She shall arise to make men free:
    She shall arise in a sacred scorn,
    Lighting the lives that are yet unborn;
    Spirit supernal, splendor eternal,
        England!
    • "A Chant of Love for England", in The Atlantic Monthly, vol. 115, no. 2 (February 1915) p. 263. Quoted as epigraph in George W. E. Russell, The Spirit of England (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co, 1915) front matter
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