The Downing legends : Stories in Rhyme :: :: University of Virginia Library

Hurrah for Downing! He had done
Such doughty deeds that Freedom's sun
Had often paused in middle sky
To hear his fearful charging cry,
And rushed through many a sleepless night
To see the morn's appointed fight.

Alone our rustic Joshua fought,
Yet such deliverance had wrought
That all New England's sacred coasts
Were clear of Tories, save as ghosts,
While Britons, Hessians, Mingos, witches
Had fled, or filled their final ditches.

In short, the Downeast land was freed
From tyrant's breed and Tophet's creed;
And every Yankee man might raise
His garden-sauce and hymns of praise,
Nor fear lest Tories, sly as moles,
Should hack his independence poles;
Lest purchased bravos, foreign-born,
Should cut his throat and purse and corn;
Lest wizard pinches, pricks and beatings
Should interrupt his evening meetings.