 | By Severn Sea and Other Poems |  |
48
TO AMERICA
WRITTEN DURING THE SICKNESS OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD, SEPTEMBER 1881
Dear second home beyond the misty sea,
Shore where the brethren of our fathers sought
With that chaste bride for whom our fathers fought
From storms and foes escaped in peace to be:
That bride whom all too soon fate's irony
Bade their sons choose both peace and kin before,
Then when not England on her children war,
But England's blinded rulers did decree.
Shore where the brethren of our fathers sought
With that chaste bride for whom our fathers fought
From storms and foes escaped in peace to be:
That bride whom all too soon fate's irony
Bade their sons choose both peace and kin before,
Then when not England on her children war,
But England's blinded rulers did decree.
Dear home and folk, whom still one tongue assures
Blood of our blood, who know spite waves and years
One fealty to one freedom ours and yours,
Now in your night of trials and of fears
While light is not and sorrow's ache endures,
Our prayers you have—may you not need our tears!
Blood of our blood, who know spite waves and years
One fealty to one freedom ours and yours,
Now in your night of trials and of fears
While light is not and sorrow's ache endures,
Our prayers you have—may you not need our tears!
| By Severn Sea and Other Poems | |