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Duganne's Poetical Works

Autograph edition. Seventy-five Copies

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315

PLYMOUTH ROCK.

ROCK of Freedom! old and hoary—
Footstool of the Pilgrim band!
Emblem of their toil and glory—
Altar where their children stand:
Lo! we keep thy name immortal,
We, who own the Pilgrim stock;
For they marched through Freedom's portal,
O'er her threshold—Plymouth Rock!
Bethel, thou! of wandering nations—
Pharos through the gloom of time;
Patriots mark their long probations
Ended at thy base sublime!
There the tyrants sink, adoring,
There the slaves their chains unlock,
There the freeman's flag, up-soaring,
Points to mankind—Plymouth Rock!
Rock of Freedom! Proud and lonely,
Once it braved Atlantic's roar:
Once its bosom bulwark'd only
Massachusetts' stormy shore;
Now, where'er, on coast or border,
Danger threats her angry shock,
There, be sure—for watch and warder—
Stands, for aye, a Pilgrim Rock!