The American Flag
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto, "In God is our trust "; And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall
O'er the land of the free and the home of the
WHEN Freedom from her mountain height Unfurled her standard to the air,
She tore the azure robe of night, And set the stars of glory there. She mingled with its gorgeous dyes The milky baldric of the skies, And striped its pure celestial white With streakings of the morning light; Then from his mansion in the sun She called her eagle bearer down, And gave into his mighty hand The symbol of her chosen land.
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 't is given To guard the banner of the free,
To hover in the sulphur smoke, To ward away the battle stroke, And bid its blendings shine afar, Like rainbows on the cloud of war, The harbingers of victory!
Flag of the brave! thy folds shall fly, The sign of hope and triumph high, When speaks the signal trumpet tone, And the long line comes gleaming on. Ere yet the life-blood, warm and wet, Has dimmed the glistening bayonet, Each soldier eye shall brightly turn To where the sky-born glories burn; And, as his springing steps advance, Catch war and vengeance from the glance. And when the cannon-mouthings loud Heave in wild wreaths the battle shroud, And gory sabres rise and fall
Like shoots of flame on midnight's pall, Then shall thy meteor glances glow, And cowering foes shall shrink beneath Each gallant arm that strikes below That lovely messenger of death.
Flag of the seas! on ocean wave Thy stars shall glitter o'er the brave; When death, careering on the gale, Sweeps darkly round the bellied sail, And frighted waves rush wildly back Before the broadside's reeling rack,
Each dying wanderer of the sea Shall look at once to heaven and thee, And smile to see thy splendours fly In triumph o'er his closing eye. Flag of the free heart's hope and home! By angel hands to valor given;
Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,
And all thy hues were born in heaven. Forever float that standard sheet!
Where breathes the foe but falls before us,
With Freedom's soil beneath our feet, And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us?
Ay, tear her tattered ensign down! Long has it waved on high, And many an eye has danced to see That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannon's roar;
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more!
Her deck, once red with heroes' blood, Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood, And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victor's tread,
Or know the conquered knee ;— The harpies of the shore shall pluck The eagle of the sea!
Oh, better that her shattered hulk Should sink beneath the wave; Her thunders shook the mighty deep, And there should be her grave; Nail to her mast her holy flag, Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the God of storms,- The lightning and the gale!
Sung at the Completion of the Battle Monument, April 19, 1836.
By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world. 4
The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept Down the dark stream which seaward
On this green bank, by this soft stream, We set to-day a votive stone; That memory may their deed redeem, When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free, Bid Time and Nature gently sparę The shaft we raise to them and thee.
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