 | Poems by John Godfrey Saxe. Complete in one volume : thirty-fifth edition |  |
107
Led by their twentieth episode astray,
And thus recall their pristine theme anew,
Lost in the mazes of the shifting view,—
But to resume: these hardy pioneers
Grow, in the flight of scarce a hundred years,
Till, where a few weak colonies were seen,
Thrive in their strength ‘the glorious Old Thirteen;
And these, anon, released from British rule,
Swarm like the pupils of a parish school;
And still they flourish at a wondrous rate,
Towns follow towns, and state succeeds to state,
Until, at last, among its crimson bars,
Our country's banner, crowded full of stars,
O'er Freedom's sons in happy triumph waves,
Some twenty millions,—not to count the slaves!
| Poems by John Godfrey Saxe. Complete in one volume : thirty-fifth edition | |