Thematic Topic: Loyalty at all costs
This poem was written by Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer, an African American poet who wrote about social issues and civil rights. It was published as part of a collection of her works in 1907. An online version of the poem can be found here.
Unflinching loyalty to one's nation is an integral element in Beowulf. This is generally coupled with the extreme levels of pride for oneself and one's nation found in Anglo-Saxon society. This combination of loyalty and pride leads to Beowulf being placed into a precarious situation that could've been easily avoidable. When the dragon begins attacking Geatland, Beowulf realizes that he's grown old, and doesn't have quite as much strength as he had when he defeated Grendel many years ago. He understands that he "risked [his] life often when [he] was young," but "Now [he is] old." (Line 2511) Despite this, he values loyalty to his nation above all, which causes him to "pursue this fight for the glory of winning" (Line 2511) and entrench himself in an irrational battle he knew he wasn't likely to win. Unlike the concept of loyalty depicted in "Loyalty to the Flag," Beowulf's loyalty is much more personal, and characters throughout the epic intentionally take on hardships in order to prove the extent of their loyalty. For example, Beowulf "was too proud to line up with a large army against the sky-plague" (Line 2345), and instead went with a small company, telling them "I shall win the gold by my courage, or else mortal combat, doom of battle, will bear your lord away." (Line 2535) This loyalty eventually caused Beowulf's death, which would've been easily preventable if he had simply sacrificed some of his pride and individualistic loyalty by bringing a larger army to fight the dragon. After Beowulf dies, he is commemorated by a barrow and celebrated for years to come throughout society, always remembered for his heroic actions and committed loyalty to his nation.
Although "Loyalty to the Flag" is also centered around a discussion of loyalty at all costs, it diverges in a few major ways. Firstly, the poem describes the mass loyalty of African Americans to America, instead of the prideful loyalty in Beowulf, which was much more individual and "selfish." The work shows an appreciation of how there were "None more strong and none more useful, none more loyal to the flag" (Line 16) than the African-American soldiers during America's many battles throughout history. By displaying their loyalty to America, African-American soldiers "gained the worthy plaudit from the loyal, brave and true" (Line 38), but were not honored or celebrated individually. Another contrast to the form of loyalty depicted in Beowulf is that the loyalty described in this poem is not widely rewarded, and was (in some regions throughout the South) met with negativity through an increase of "prejudice existing in the country" (Line 41) and racism. While Beowulf's extreme loyalty and valor are rewarded by a monument and ceremony, the soldiers' lives were generally not rewarded at all, making their loyalty more out of love for their country than for their individual pride or ego. One common element of this thematic topic that is present in both the classic and modern poems is the extent of the characters' loyalty. Beowulf and the African-American soldiers both showed a deep dedication to their nation, and they went to great lengths to uphold their nations' pride, even dying in the process.