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 | Columbia's glory |  |
Long live great Washington, to see
The fruits of all thy toils,
In thy Columbia's conscious smiles,
And, to thy great content, may She,
In spite of foreign or domestic wiles,
Ever remain, what thou hast made her, FREE;
Long may'st thou live t'enjoy Columbia's love,
And never may her sons ungrateful prove;
May thy just merits ever be discern'd;
Long live, great man, renown'd,
With all that blaze of glory crown'd
Thou hast so dearly earn'd.
Long mayst thou live thy country to adorn,
Instruct her children by thy prudent lore,
And point the way,
In which they may
In season lay,
A greater fund of happiness in store
For millions yet unborn.
Long mayst thou live, but not the sword to wield;
O mayst thou often still,
In council, with thy wonted skill,
Thy needful service to Columbia yield;
May she in thy advice rejoice,
And oft in Congress hear thy voice,
But never, never need thee in the field.
Enough of marches and campaigns,
Of sieges and embattled plains,
Thy worldly warfare now, we trust, is o'er,
And thou in carnal arms
Shall take the field no more;
But the great christian warfare still remains:
This must endure thro' life,
But 'tis a glorious strife,
And vict'ry well shall recompence thy pains.
'Twas thine ere while t'oppose
The British tyrants hosts,
And num'rous bands of rebel foes,
Who made dire inroads on Columbia's coasts,
With energy to quell;
It yet remains t'engage
With rebel angels, and repel
Th' assaults of satan and the pow'rs of hell.
It was thy happy lot
The servants to subdue,
And from the sight return triumphing home;
O, when thou shall have fought,
As a true christian hero ought,
Through thy great leader mayst thou overcome,
And prove victorious o'er the MASTER too.
And when the conflict shall be o'er,
And thou shall have to strive no more,
Mayst thou triumphant mount the skies,
Whither, victorious o'er his enemies,
The heroe-God ascended long before.
There, with obeisance meet,
At his exalted feet,
Low lay thy earthly laurels down,
Behold his kind approving smiles,
Obtain sweet rest from all thy toils,
Put off thy armour, and receive thy crown:
A crown of glory in a world serene,
Where no fell tyrant tramples on the laws,
Unlimited dominion to acquire,
Just rights annuls, or with malignant spleen,
His injur'd subjects to submission awes
With plunder, sword and fire.
Where glorious reigns a potentate Divine,
To whom archangels bend the obsequious knee;
Sov'reign, yet JUST, tho' absolute, BENIGN,
At whose supreme decree
His happy subjects ne'er repine,
Because completely FREE.
The fruits of all thy toils,
In thy Columbia's conscious smiles,
And, to thy great content, may She,
In spite of foreign or domestic wiles,
Ever remain, what thou hast made her, FREE;
Long may'st thou live t'enjoy Columbia's love,
And never may her sons ungrateful prove;
May thy just merits ever be discern'd;
Long live, great man, renown'd,
With all that blaze of glory crown'd
Thou hast so dearly earn'd.
Long mayst thou live thy country to adorn,
Instruct her children by thy prudent lore,
And point the way,
In which they may
In season lay,
A greater fund of happiness in store
For millions yet unborn.
Long mayst thou live, but not the sword to wield;
O mayst thou often still,
In council, with thy wonted skill,
Thy needful service to Columbia yield;
May she in thy advice rejoice,
22
But never, never need thee in the field.
Enough of marches and campaigns,
Of sieges and embattled plains,
Thy worldly warfare now, we trust, is o'er,
And thou in carnal arms
Shall take the field no more;
But the great christian warfare still remains:
This must endure thro' life,
But 'tis a glorious strife,
And vict'ry well shall recompence thy pains.
'Twas thine ere while t'oppose
The British tyrants hosts,
And num'rous bands of rebel foes,
Who made dire inroads on Columbia's coasts,
With energy to quell;
It yet remains t'engage
With rebel angels, and repel
Th' assaults of satan and the pow'rs of hell.
It was thy happy lot
The servants to subdue,
And from the sight return triumphing home;
O, when thou shall have fought,
As a true christian hero ought,
Through thy great leader mayst thou overcome,
And prove victorious o'er the MASTER too.
And when the conflict shall be o'er,
And thou shall have to strive no more,
Mayst thou triumphant mount the skies,
Whither, victorious o'er his enemies,
The heroe-God ascended long before.
There, with obeisance meet,
At his exalted feet,
23
Behold his kind approving smiles,
Obtain sweet rest from all thy toils,
Put off thy armour, and receive thy crown:
A crown of glory in a world serene,
Where no fell tyrant tramples on the laws,
Unlimited dominion to acquire,
Just rights annuls, or with malignant spleen,
His injur'd subjects to submission awes
With plunder, sword and fire.
Where glorious reigns a potentate Divine,
To whom archangels bend the obsequious knee;
Sov'reign, yet JUST, tho' absolute, BENIGN,
At whose supreme decree
His happy subjects ne'er repine,
Because completely FREE.
As, at the time this Poem was composed, the American Constitution was not in being, the author acknowledges he did not foresee, what he might have reasonably expected, that, instead of being merely a member of Congress, as he once was, the great WASHINGTON would one day be at the head of the United States.
| Columbia's glory | |