 | The battle of Niagara |  |
260
PERRY's VICTORY.
COLUMBIA appear! To thy mountains ascend,
And pour thy bold hymn to the winds and the woods,
Columbia appear!—O'er thy tempest-harp bend,
And far, to the nations, its trumpet song send:
Let thy cliff echoes wake, with their sun-nourished broods,
And chant to the desert, the skies, and the floods;
And bid them remember
The tenth of September,
When our eagle came down from her home in the sky,
And the souls of our ancients were marshalled on high.
And pour thy bold hymn to the winds and the woods,
Columbia appear!—O'er thy tempest-harp bend,
And far, to the nations, its trumpet song send:
Let thy cliff echoes wake, with their sun-nourished broods,
And chant to the desert, the skies, and the floods;
And bid them remember
The tenth of September,
When our eagle came down from her home in the sky,
And the souls of our ancients were marshalled on high.
Columbia appear!—let thy warriors behold,
Their flag—like a firmament bend o'er thy head—
The wide—rainbow-flag—with its star-clustered fold!
Let the knell of dark Battle, beneath it, be tolled;
While the anthem of peace shall be pealed for the dead,
And the rude waters heave, on whose bosom they bled:
O they will remember
The tenth of September,
When their souls were let loose in a tempest of flame,
And wide Erie shook at the trumpet of Fame!
Their flag—like a firmament bend o'er thy head—
The wide—rainbow-flag—with its star-clustered fold!
Let the knell of dark Battle, beneath it, be tolled;
While the anthem of peace shall be pealed for the dead,
And the rude waters heave, on whose bosom they bled:
O they will remember
The tenth of September,
When their souls were let loose in a tempest of flame,
And wide Erie shook at the trumpet of Fame!
261
Columbia appear!—Let thy cloud-minstrels wake,
As they march on the storm—all the grandeur of song,
'Till the far mountains nod, and the motionless lake
Shall be mantled in froth—and its monarch shall quake
On his green, oozy throne, as their harping comes strong,
With the chime of the winds that are bursting along;
For he will remember
The tenth of September,
When he saw his dominions all covered with foam;
And heard the loud war in his echoless home.
As they march on the storm—all the grandeur of song,
'Till the far mountains nod, and the motionless lake
Shall be mantled in froth—and its monarch shall quake
On his green, oozy throne, as their harping comes strong,
With the chime of the winds that are bursting along;
For he will remember
The tenth of September,
When he saw his dominions all covered with foam;
And heard the loud war in his echoless home.
Columbia appear!—Be thine olive displayed!
O cheer, with thy smile, all the land and the tide!
Be the anthem we hear, not the song that was made,
When the victims of slaughter stood forth, all arrayed
In blood-dripping garments—and shouted—and died:
But, let us remember
The tenth of September,
When the dark waves of Erie were brightened to day;
And the flames of the battle were quenched in their spray.
O cheer, with thy smile, all the land and the tide!
Be the anthem we hear, not the song that was made,
When the victims of slaughter stood forth, all arrayed
In blood-dripping garments—and shouted—and died:
But, let us remember
The tenth of September,
When the dark waves of Erie were brightened to day;
And the flames of the battle were quenched in their spray.
| The battle of Niagara | |