 | The poems, sacred, passionate, and humorous, of Nathaniel Parker Willis |  |
191
TO CHARLES ROUX, OF SWITZERLAND.
(WRITTEN IN HIS ALBUM WHEN HE WAS THE AUTHOR'S TEACHER IN MODERN LANGUAGES, YALE COLLEGE, 1827.)
I would not leave that land, if I were thou—
That glorious land of mountain and of flood,
Whereon is graven God.
As if its hills were chosen for Earth's brow,
And its loud torrents gave the words he spoke,
Leaping from rock to rock.
That glorious land of mountain and of flood,
Whereon is graven God.
As if its hills were chosen for Earth's brow,
And its loud torrents gave the words he spoke,
Leaping from rock to rock.
I would not leave it—for its children gave
Their blood like water, for a word, “be FREE!”
Their last breath, “Liberty!”
Till Switzerland was made a mighty grave—
A land where heroes like a harvest fell—
The land of William Tell.
Their blood like water, for a word, “be FREE!”
Their last breath, “Liberty!”
Till Switzerland was made a mighty grave—
A land where heroes like a harvest fell—
The land of William Tell.
I would not leave it:—yet the holy wing
Of freedom shadoweth this land, as thine!
And when I call it “mine,”
I make myself greater than a king.
We welcome freemen—and we welcome thee—
Dwell with us, and BE FREE!
Of freedom shadoweth this land, as thine!
And when I call it “mine,”
I make myself greater than a king.
We welcome freemen—and we welcome thee—
Dwell with us, and BE FREE!
| The poems, sacred, passionate, and humorous, of Nathaniel Parker Willis | |