Ballads for the Times (Now first collected,) Geraldine, A Modern Pyramid, Bartenus, A Thousand Lines, and other poems. By Martin F. Tupper. A new Edition, enlarged and revised |
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| II. | II.— “Ye Thirty noble Nations.”
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 | Ballads for the Times |  |
II.— “Ye Thirty noble Nations.”
Ye Thirty noble Nations
Confederate in One!
That keep your starry stations
Around the Western Sun,—
I have a glorious mission,
And must obey the call,—
A claim! and a petition!
To set before you All.
Confederate in One!
That keep your starry stations
Around the Western Sun,—
I have a glorious mission,
And must obey the call,—
A claim! and a petition!
To set before you All.
Away with party blindness,
Away with petty spite!
My Claim is one of Kindness,
My Prayer is one of Right;
And while in grace ye listen,—
For tenderness, I know
Your eyes shall dim and glisten,
Your hearts shall thrill and glow.
Away with petty spite!
My Claim is one of Kindness,
My Prayer is one of Right;
And while in grace ye listen,—
For tenderness, I know
Your eyes shall dim and glisten,
Your hearts shall thrill and glow.
449
For, on those hearts is written
The spirit of my song,—
I claim your love for Britain,
In spite of every wrong!
I claim it for—your mother,
Your sister, and your spouse,
Your father, friend, and brother,
The “Hector” of your vows!
The spirit of my song,—
I claim your love for Britain,
In spite of every wrong!
I claim it for—your mother,
Your sister, and your spouse,
Your father, friend, and brother,
The “Hector” of your vows!
In spite of all the evils
That statesmen ever brew'd,
Or busy printers'-devils,
Or Celtic gratitude,—
In spite of politicians
And diplomatic fuss,
Your feelings and traditions
Are cordially with us!
That statesmen ever brew'd,
Or busy printers'-devils,
Or Celtic gratitude,—
In spite of politicians
And diplomatic fuss,
Your feelings and traditions
Are cordially with us!
O yes! your recollections
Look back with streaming eye
To pour those old affections
On scenes and days gone by;
Your Eagle well remembers
His dear old island-nest,
And sorrow stirs the embers
Of love within his breast!
Look back with streaming eye
To pour those old affections
On scenes and days gone by;
Your Eagle well remembers
His dear old island-nest,
And sorrow stirs the embers
Of love within his breast!
Ah! need I tell of places
You dream and dwell on still?
Those old familiar faces
Of English vale and hill,—
The sites you think of, sobbing,
And seek as pilgrims seek,
With brows and bosoms throbbing
And tears upon your cheek!
You dream and dwell on still?
Those old familiar faces
Of English vale and hill,—
450
And seek as pilgrims seek,
With brows and bosoms throbbing
And tears upon your cheek!
Or should I touch on glories
That date in ages gone,
Those dear historic stories
When England's fame was won,—
The tales your children thronging
So gladly hear you tell,
And note their father's longing,
And love that longing well!
That date in ages gone,
Those dear historic stories
When England's fame was won,—
The tales your children thronging
So gladly hear you tell,
And note their father's longing,
And love that longing well!
For language, follies, fashions,
Religion, honour, shame,
And human loves and passions,
Oh! we are just the same;
You, you are England, growing
To Continental state,
And we Columbia, glowing
With all that makes you great!
Religion, honour, shame,
And human loves and passions,
Oh! we are just the same;
You, you are England, growing
To Continental state,
And we Columbia, glowing
With all that makes you great!
Yes, Anglo-Saxon brother,
I see your heart is right,—
And we will warm each other
With all our loves alight;
In feeling and in reason
My Claim is stow'd away,—
And kissing is in season
For ever and a day!—
I see your heart is right,—
And we will warm each other
With all our loves alight;
In feeling and in reason
My Claim is stow'd away,—
And kissing is in season
For ever and a day!—
451
And now in frank contrition,
O brother mine, give heed,—
And hear the just Petition
My feeble tongue would plead;
I plead across the waters,
So deeply crimson-stain'd,
For Afric's sons and daughters
Whom freemen hold enchain'd!
O brother mine, give heed,—
And hear the just Petition
My feeble tongue would plead;
I plead across the waters,
So deeply crimson-stain'd,
For Afric's sons and daughters
Whom freemen hold enchain'd!
I taunt you not unkindly
With ills you didn't make,
I would not wish you blindly
In haste the bond to break;
But tenderly and truly
To file away the chain,
And render justice duly
To Man's Estate again!
With ills you didn't make,
I would not wish you blindly
In haste the bond to break;
But tenderly and truly
To file away the chain,
And render justice duly
To Man's Estate again!
O judge ye how degrading,—
A Christian bought and sold!
And human monsters trading
In human flesh for gold!
When ruthlessly they plunder
Poor Afric's homes defiled,
And all to sell—asunder!
The mother, and her child.
A Christian bought and sold!
And human monsters trading
In human flesh for gold!
When ruthlessly they plunder
Poor Afric's homes defiled,
And all to sell—asunder!
The mother, and her child.
O free and fearless Nation,
Wipe out this damning spot,
Earth's worst abomination,
And nature's blackest blot;
Begin and speed the rather
To help with hand and eye
The children of your Father
Beneath His tropic sky.
Wipe out this damning spot,
Earth's worst abomination,
And nature's blackest blot;
452
To help with hand and eye
The children of your Father
Beneath His tropic sky.
He—He who form'd and frees us
And makes us white within,
Who knows how Holy Jesus
May love that tinted skin!
For none can tell how darkly
The sun of Jewry shed
Its burning shadows starkly
On Jesu's homeless head!
And makes us white within,
Who knows how Holy Jesus
May love that tinted skin!
For none can tell how darkly
The sun of Jewry shed
Its burning shadows starkly
On Jesu's homeless head!
And lo! One great salvation
Hath burst upon the World,—
And God's Illumination
Like noonday shines unfurl'd;
Shall bonds or colour pale it?
Candace's Eunuch—say!—
The first, though black, to hail it,
And love the Gospel Day!
Hath burst upon the World,—
And God's Illumination
Like noonday shines unfurl'd;
Shall bonds or colour pale it?
Candace's Eunuch—say!—
The first, though black, to hail it,
And love the Gospel Day!
Columbia, well I note it,
That half your sons are strong
Against this ill, and vote it
A folly and a wrong;
Yet, lurks there not a loathing,
Aye, with your best inclined,
Against that sable clothing
Of Man's own heart and mind?
That half your sons are strong
Against this ill, and vote it
A folly and a wrong;
Yet, lurks there not a loathing,
Aye, with your best inclined,
Against that sable clothing
Of Man's own heart and mind?
453
I charge you by your power,
Your freedom and your fame,
To speed the blessed hour
That wipes away this Shame:
By all life's hopes and wishes
And fears beyond the grave,
Renounce these blood-bought riches,
And frankly free the slave!
Your freedom and your fame,
To speed the blessed hour
That wipes away this Shame:
By all life's hopes and wishes
And fears beyond the grave,
Renounce these blood-bought riches,
And frankly free the slave!
So let whatever threaten,
While God is on our side,
Columbia and Britain
The world shall well divide,—
Divide?—No! in one tether
Of Anglo-Saxon might
We'll hold the world together
In peace and love and right!
While God is on our side,
Columbia and Britain
The world shall well divide,—
Divide?—No! in one tether
Of Anglo-Saxon might
We'll hold the world together
In peace and love and right!
| Ballads for the Times | |