University of Virginia Library

12  I hear and see not strips of cloth alone;
I hear the tramp of armies, I hear the challenging      sentry;
I hear the jubilant shouts of millions of men — I hear      LIBERTY!
I hear the drums beat, and the trumpets blowing;
I myself move abroad, swift-rising, flying then;
I use the wings of the land-bird, and use the wings of      the sea-bird, and look down as from a height;
I do not deny the precious results of peace — I see pop-     ulous cities, with wealth incalculable;
I see numberless farms — I see the farmers working in      their fields or barns;
I see mechanics working — I see buildings everywhere      founded, going up, or finish'd;
I see trains of cars swiftly speeding along railroad      tracks, drawn by the locomotives;
I see the stores, depots, of Boston, Baltimore, Charles-     ton, New Orleans;
I see far in the west the immense area of grain — I      dwell awhile, hovering;
I pass to the lumber forests of the north, and again      to the southern plantation, and again to Cali-     fornia;
Sweeping the whole, I see the countless profit, the      busy gatherings, earned wages;
See the identity formed out of thirty-six spacious and      haughty States, (and many more to come;)
See forts on the shores of harbors — see ships sailing in      and out;
Then over all, (aye! aye!) my little and lengthen'd pen-     nant shaped like a sword,
Runs swiftly up, indicating war and defiance — And now      the halyards have rais'd it,
Side of my banner broad and blue — side of my starry      banner,
Discarding peace over all the sea and land.