The Landing of the
Pilgrim Fathers in New England
by Felicia Hemans�(1793�1835) |
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THE BREAKING waves dashed high
On a stern and
rock-bound coast,
And the woods against a stormy sky
Their giant branches tossed;
And the heavy night hung
dark
The hills and waters o'er,
When a band of exiles
moored their bark
On the wild New England shore.
Not as the conqueror comes,
They, the true-hearted, came;
Not with the roll of the stirring drums,
And the trumpet
that sings of fame;
Not as the flying come,
In
silence and in fear;
They shook the depths of the desert
gloom
With their hymns of lofty cheer.
Amidst the
storm they sang,
And the stars heard, and the sea;
And
the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang
To the anthem
of the free!
The ocean eagle soared
From his nest
by the white wave's foam;
And the rocking pines of the
forest roared,
This was their welcome home!
There
were men with hoary hair
Amidst that pilgrim band;
Why
had they come to wither there,
Away from their
childhood's land?
There was woman's fearless eye,
Lit by her deep love's truth;
There was manhood's brow,
serenely high,
And the fiery heart of youth.
What
sought they thus afar?
Bright jewels of the mine?
The
wealth of seas, the spoils of war?
They sought a faith's
pure shrine!
Ay, call it holy ground,
The soil
where first they trod;
They have left unstained what
there they found,
Freedom to worship God. |
By Felicia Hemans�(1793�1835)
Listed , 2014 |
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