And where was then thy fearless flight? "O'er the dark, mysterious sea, To the lands that caught the setting light, There, on the silent and lonely shore, For ages I watched alone, And the world in its darkness asked no more "But then came a bold and hardy few, "And now that bold and hardy few Are a nation wide and strong; And danger and doubt I have led them through, And they worship me in song; And over their bright and glancing arms, On field, and lake, and sea, With an eye that fires, and a spell that charms, I guide them to victory." JAMES GATES PERCIVAL. THE AMERICAN EAGLE. BIRD of Columbia, well art thou Like her own rivers wandering free; And sending forth from hills and floods With spreading wing, untired and strong, That mounts aloft, nor looks below, The admiration of the earth, In grand simplicity she stands; My native land, my native land, To her my thoughts will fondly turn; For her the heart with fears will yearn. By rank, by faction, unbeguiled; Our venerable fathers trod, When they through toil and danger pressed To gain their glorious bequest, And from each lip the caution fell To those who followed, "Guard it well." CHARLES WEST THOMSON. THE AMERICAN FLAG. WHEN Freedom from her mountain height She tore the azure robe of night, And striped its pure celestial white Majestic monarch of the cloud, Who rear'st aloft thy regal form, To hear the tempest trumpings loud And see the lightning lances driven, When strive the warriors of the storm, And rolls the thunder-drum of heaven,Child of the sun! to thee 'tis given To guard the banner of the free; Flag of the brave! thy folds shall fly, And when the cannon-mouthings loud Like shoots of flame on midnight's pall, And cowering foes shall shrink beneath Flag of the seas! on ocean wave Flag of the free heart's hope and home! And all thy hues were born in heaven. Where breathes the foe but falls before us, With Freedom's soil beneath our feet, And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us? JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE. OUR FLAG IS THERE. OUR flag is there, our flag is there, We'll hail it with three loud huzzas. Our flag is there, our flag is there. Behold the glorious Stripes and Stars. Stout hearts have fought for that bright flag, Strong hands sustained it mast-head high, And, oh, to see how proud it waves, That flag has stood the battle's roar, With foemen stout, with foemen brave; That flag is known on every shore, Alike unstained in peace or war, AMERICAN NAVAL OFFICER, 1812. THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER. Он, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there: Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses ? And where is the band who so vauntingly swore, A home and a country they'd leave us no more? Their blood hath washed out their foul footsteps' pollution: |