The bard, and minor poems By John Walker Ord ... Collected and edited by John Lodge |
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THE GIANT HILLS OF ENGLAND! |
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 | The bard, and minor poems |  |
THE GIANT HILLS OF ENGLAND!
In terror and in majesty
Their frowning heads appear;
Monarchical and sceptered
Their crowned brows they rear;
Where soars the sweeping eagle,
And roams the desert deer!
Their frowning heads appear;
Monarchical and sceptered
Their crowned brows they rear;
Where soars the sweeping eagle,
And roams the desert deer!
A thousand years of liberty
Have guarded them the same;
Old England's mighty warriors
Have given them deathless fame;
Serene as evening's sunlight
Hath been their glorious name!
Have guarded them the same;
Old England's mighty warriors
Have given them deathless fame;
Serene as evening's sunlight
Hath been their glorious name!
The giant hills of England
Defy the raging sea,
And still they tower in splendour,
The birth-place of the free;
Nor thunder, nor the tempest
Have bow'd their stubborn knee!
Defy the raging sea,
And still they tower in splendour,
The birth-place of the free;
Nor thunder, nor the tempest
Have bow'd their stubborn knee!
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Invasion cannot shake them,
Nor spear of foeman daunt;
They hurl, with proud defiance, back
Each haughty armament;
And scorn the opposing nations
With walls of adamant!
Nor spear of foeman daunt;
They hurl, with proud defiance, back
Each haughty armament;
And scorn the opposing nations
With walls of adamant!
There spreads the grim old oak-tree,
Our navy's prop and pride,
That sweep the mountain billows
The sovereign world divide—
That waft our wealth and glory
O'er every breeze and tide.
Our navy's prop and pride,
That sweep the mountain billows
The sovereign world divide—
That waft our wealth and glory
O'er every breeze and tide.
Their granite rears our monuments
For the hero and the sage;
Our temples and our columns,
That with Time's invasion wage;
And bear immortal glory
To each remotest age!
For the hero and the sage;
Our temples and our columns,
That with Time's invasion wage;
And bear immortal glory
To each remotest age!
There dwell the land's defenders,
Her proudest and her best;
The strong, the bold, the valiant sleep
Where the eagle builds her nest;
And to treason's fiery tempests
Bare manhood's dauntless breast!
Her proudest and her best;
The strong, the bold, the valiant sleep
Where the eagle builds her nest;
And to treason's fiery tempests
Bare manhood's dauntless breast!
Hail altars of our glory!
Hail dwellings of the free!
Ye are changeless as the heavens,
Eternal as the sea:
Enduring as the giant hills
Be English liberty!
Hail dwellings of the free!
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Eternal as the sea:
Enduring as the giant hills
Be English liberty!
| The bard, and minor poems | |