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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The Liberian Beacon.
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 | Ballads for the Times |  |
The Liberian Beacon.
A thousand miles of rugged shore,
And not a lighthouse seen?
Alas, the thousand years of yore
That such a shame hath been!
Alas, that Afric's darkling race,
The savages and slaves,
Never have known the gleam of grace
On their Atlantic waves!
And not a lighthouse seen?
Alas, the thousand years of yore
That such a shame hath been!
Alas, that Afric's darkling race,
The savages and slaves,
Never have known the gleam of grace
On their Atlantic waves!
87
Never—till Now! O glorious light,
The beacon is ablaze!
And half the terrors of the night
Are scatter'd by its rays!
Forth from the starry-heaven'd West
Was lit this glowing torch,
For, dear Columbia's sons have blest
Liberia with—a Church!
The beacon is ablaze!
And half the terrors of the night
Are scatter'd by its rays!
Forth from the starry-heaven'd West
Was lit this glowing torch,
For, dear Columbia's sons have blest
Liberia with—a Church!
Yes,—young Columbia leads the way,
And shows our hard old world
How slavery in the sight of day
Can wisest be downhurl'd;
Not by the bloody hand of power
That mangles while it frees,
But by Religion's calmer hour,
And Freedom of the seas!
And shows our hard old world
How slavery in the sight of day
Can wisest be downhurl'd;
Not by the bloody hand of power
That mangles while it frees,
But by Religion's calmer hour,
And Freedom of the seas!
Yes, brothers! Patience is the word,—
And Prudence in your zeal:
Where these sweet angels well are heard
They work the common weal:
The North must wait; the South be wise;
And both unite in love
To help the slave beneath the skies
Who is no slave above!
And Prudence in your zeal:
Where these sweet angels well are heard
They work the common weal:
The North must wait; the South be wise;
And both unite in love
To help the slave beneath the skies
Who is no slave above!
| Ballads for the Times | |