 | [Poems by Dwight in] American poems, selected and original |  |
55
ADDRESS OF THE GENIUS OF COLUMBIA,
To the Members of the Continental Convention.
From western skies, a cloud of glory came,
A small, dim spot, a torch of lambent flame;
Ascending, widening, slow the skirts unroll'd,
Rainbow'd with fire, and warm'd with glowing gold.
There, borne by summon'd winds, in pomp sublime,
His look far-piercing down the vast of time,
Where the long, narrowing vale deserts the eye,
Unbosom'd dimly on the eternal sky,
The Genius sate. He saw, when faction spent,
No more with war his darling kingdom rent,
The stream of kindred blood forbore to flow,
And morn faint trembled o'er the night of woe,
Call'd from each sister realm, the wise and great,
In Penn's fair walls, and awful council sate;
Pois'd in their hands, Columbia's mighty sway,
And tottering laws, and rights, and freedom, lay.
A small, dim spot, a torch of lambent flame;
Ascending, widening, slow the skirts unroll'd,
Rainbow'd with fire, and warm'd with glowing gold.
There, borne by summon'd winds, in pomp sublime,
His look far-piercing down the vast of time,
Where the long, narrowing vale deserts the eye,
Unbosom'd dimly on the eternal sky,
The Genius sate. He saw, when faction spent,
No more with war his darling kingdom rent,
The stream of kindred blood forbore to flow,
And morn faint trembled o'er the night of woe,
Call'd from each sister realm, the wise and great,
In Penn's fair walls, and awful council sate;
Pois'd in their hands, Columbia's mighty sway,
And tottering laws, and rights, and freedom, lay.
He saw, when fairer than the glow of even,
And bright as visions of disclosing heaven,
Full in his face a sacred splendor shone,
And the west kindled with another sun.
“All hail, my sons,” he cried, “my voice attend,
Your country's genius, guardian, guide, and friend:
The counsels mark, that faithful friend supplies,
Attend, and learn the dictates of the skies,
Before you, lo! what scenes of glory spread,
The fairest, brightest, noblest, heaven has made:
Their home, where freedom, science, virtue, find,
The last recesses of oppress'd mankind.
The immense of empire here, amaz'd, descry,
Where realms are lost, and hidden oceans lie;
Where Perna's vast would sink in shades conceal'd,
And Rome's proud world diminish to a field.
See, from the pole, where frozen fountains rise,
And pour their waters under torrid skies,
Where Rhines and Danubes, rills and streamlets play,
To swell the pomp of Missisippi's sea;
Where a zone's breadth majestic woods extend,
And other Andes o'er the storms ascend;
Where meadows bound the morn and evening rays,
Where plains are kingdoms, and where lakes are seas.
And bright as visions of disclosing heaven,
Full in his face a sacred splendor shone,
And the west kindled with another sun.
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Your country's genius, guardian, guide, and friend:
The counsels mark, that faithful friend supplies,
Attend, and learn the dictates of the skies,
Before you, lo! what scenes of glory spread,
The fairest, brightest, noblest, heaven has made:
Their home, where freedom, science, virtue, find,
The last recesses of oppress'd mankind.
The immense of empire here, amaz'd, descry,
Where realms are lost, and hidden oceans lie;
Where Perna's vast would sink in shades conceal'd,
And Rome's proud world diminish to a field.
See, from the pole, where frozen fountains rise,
And pour their waters under torrid skies,
Where Rhines and Danubes, rills and streamlets play,
To swell the pomp of Missisippi's sea;
Where a zone's breadth majestic woods extend,
And other Andes o'er the storms ascend;
Where meadows bound the morn and evening rays,
Where plains are kingdoms, and where lakes are seas.
See thro all climes the unmeasur'd empire run,
And drink each influence from the lingering sun;
Pure skies unbosom'd, days serenest roll,
And gales of health, from Darien fan the pole.
And drink each influence from the lingering sun;
Pure skies unbosom'd, days serenest roll,
And gales of health, from Darien fan the pole.
In each bless'd clime, to crown industrious toil,
See every product spring from every soil,
Here the fur whitens in the frozen shade;
Here flocks unnumber'd crowd the pastur'd glade;
Here threatening famine double harvests scorn—
Europe's rich grains, and India's useful corn—
Virginia's fragrant pride, huge fleets convey,
And fields of rice float cumbrous o'er the sea,
While all its wealth, the world of waters yeilds,
And treasures fill the subterranean fields.
These goods to waft where'er expands the wind,
To bless and to sustain the human kind,
See, stretch'd immense from Cancer to the pole,
On either side contending oceans roll;
O'er this, all Europe wings her haughty sails;
O'er that, all India wafts on spicy gales;
While bays, and streams, and lakes, her realms explore,
And land each product at each happy door.
See every product spring from every soil,
Here the fur whitens in the frozen shade;
Here flocks unnumber'd crowd the pastur'd glade;
Here threatening famine double harvests scorn—
Europe's rich grains, and India's useful corn—
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And fields of rice float cumbrous o'er the sea,
While all its wealth, the world of waters yeilds,
And treasures fill the subterranean fields.
These goods to waft where'er expands the wind,
To bless and to sustain the human kind,
See, stretch'd immense from Cancer to the pole,
On either side contending oceans roll;
O'er this, all Europe wings her haughty sails;
O'er that, all India wafts on spicy gales;
While bays, and streams, and lakes, her realms explore,
And land each product at each happy door.
To fill these realms, a generous race behold,
Of happiest genius, and of firmest mould;
In thoughts, in arts, in life, in language join'd,
One faith, one worship, one politic mind,
Patient, serene, in toils and dangers dire,
Their nerves of iron, and their souls of fire:
Call'd from all realms, these chosen sons have join'd
Expansive manners, and a genial mind,
The liberal sentiment, the adventurous thought,
With greatness teeming, and with goodness fraught;
Chain'd to no party; by no system bound;
Confining merit to no speck of ground;
Nor Britons, Frenchmen, Germans, Swiss, or Huns,
Of earth the natives, and of heaven the sons,
Regarding, loving, all the great and good,
Of every rank, clime, party, sect, and blood.
Of happiest genius, and of firmest mould;
In thoughts, in arts, in life, in language join'd,
One faith, one worship, one politic mind,
Patient, serene, in toils and dangers dire,
Their nerves of iron, and their souls of fire:
Call'd from all realms, these chosen sons have join'd
Expansive manners, and a genial mind,
The liberal sentiment, the adventurous thought,
With greatness teeming, and with goodness fraught;
Chain'd to no party; by no system bound;
Confining merit to no speck of ground;
Nor Britons, Frenchmen, Germans, Swiss, or Huns,
Of earth the natives, and of heaven the sons,
Regarding, loving, all the great and good,
Of every rank, clime, party, sect, and blood.
58
The swain, with bliss to Europe's climes unknown,
His wife, his house, his lands, his flock, his own,
Treads, independent, on the subject soil,
Prepar'd for every danger, every toil;
Prepar'd to see antarctic oceans roll,
To circle earth, and search the lonely pole;
Or thro the immense of science wind his way;
Or lift poetic wings beyond the day;
The ridgy front of death for freedom dare,
Or, round all regions, hush the voice of war.
His wife, his house, his lands, his flock, his own,
Treads, independent, on the subject soil,
Prepar'd for every danger, every toil;
Prepar'd to see antarctic oceans roll,
To circle earth, and search the lonely pole;
Or thro the immense of science wind his way;
Or lift poetic wings beyond the day;
The ridgy front of death for freedom dare,
Or, round all regions, hush the voice of war.
Heaven from all climes this happy realm conceal'd,
While wolves and Indians roam'd the bloody field,
Till human rule a soft'ning aspect wore,
Till war's black chariot ceas'd to roll in gore,
Till bigot zeal resign'd his scarlet sway,
And his dread thunders puff'd in smoke away.
While wolves and Indians roam'd the bloody field,
Till human rule a soft'ning aspect wore,
Till war's black chariot ceas'd to roll in gore,
Till bigot zeal resign'd his scarlet sway,
And his dread thunders puff'd in smoke away.
Thus oh how bless'd the era of her fate,
How bright the morning, and how long the date!
For now each fair improvement of the mind,
Each nobler effort lifts the human kind;
Vast means of bliss mechanic arts combine;
All liberal arts the rugged soul refine;
Freedom, and right, and law, their reign assume,
Stern Power resist, and cheer the world's sad doom;
On nature's ocean, science lifts her sails,
Finds other stars, and catches nobler gales;
While dawning virtue beams from yonder sky,
And brighter suns arise on human joy.
How bright the morning, and how long the date!
For now each fair improvement of the mind,
Each nobler effort lifts the human kind;
Vast means of bliss mechanic arts combine;
All liberal arts the rugged soul refine;
Freedom, and right, and law, their reign assume,
Stern Power resist, and cheer the world's sad doom;
On nature's ocean, science lifts her sails,
Finds other stars, and catches nobler gales;
While dawning virtue beams from yonder sky,
And brighter suns arise on human joy.
Such scenes of bliss, ye sages, bless your eyes:
For men, for realms like these, your plans devise.
Be then your counsels, as your subject, great,
A world their sphere, and time's long reign their date.
For men, for realms like these, your plans devise.
59
A world their sphere, and time's long reign their date.
Each party-view, each private good, disclaim,
Each petty maxim, each colonial aim;
Let all Columbia's weal your views expand,
A mighty system rule a mighty land;
Yourselves her genuine sons let Europe own,
Not the small agents of a paltry town.
Each petty maxim, each colonial aim;
Let all Columbia's weal your views expand,
A mighty system rule a mighty land;
Yourselves her genuine sons let Europe own,
Not the small agents of a paltry town.
Learn, cautious, what to alter, where to mend;
See to what close projected measures tend.
From pressing wants the mind averting still,
Thinks good remotest from the present ill:
From feuds anarchial to oppression's throne,
Misguided nations hence for safety run;
And through the miseries of a thousand years,
Their fatal folly mourn in bloody tears.
See to what close projected measures tend.
From pressing wants the mind averting still,
Thinks good remotest from the present ill:
From feuds anarchial to oppression's throne,
Misguided nations hence for safety run;
And through the miseries of a thousand years,
Their fatal folly mourn in bloody tears.
Ten thousand follies thro Columbia spread;
Ten thousand wars her darling realms invade.
The private interest of each jealous state;
Of rule the impatience, and of law the hate.
But ah! from narrow springs these evils flow,
A few base wretches mingle general woe.
Still the same mind her manly race pervades,
Still the same virtues haunt the hallow'd shades.
But when the peals of war her center shook,
All private aims the anxious mind forsook.
In danger's iron-bond her race was one:
Each separate good, each little view unknown.
Now rule, unsystem'd, drives the mind astray;
Now private interest points the downward way:
Hence civil discord pours her muddy stream,
And fools and villains float upon the brim;
O'er all, the sad spectator casts his eye,
And wonders where the gems and minerals lie.
Ten thousand wars her darling realms invade.
The private interest of each jealous state;
Of rule the impatience, and of law the hate.
But ah! from narrow springs these evils flow,
A few base wretches mingle general woe.
Still the same mind her manly race pervades,
Still the same virtues haunt the hallow'd shades.
But when the peals of war her center shook,
All private aims the anxious mind forsook.
In danger's iron-bond her race was one:
Each separate good, each little view unknown.
Now rule, unsystem'd, drives the mind astray;
Now private interest points the downward way:
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And fools and villains float upon the brim;
O'er all, the sad spectator casts his eye,
And wonders where the gems and minerals lie.
But ne'er of freedom, glory, bliss, despond:
Uplift your eyes those little clouds beyond;
See there returning suns, with gladdening ray,
Roll on fair spring to chase this wintry day.
Uplift your eyes those little clouds beyond;
See there returning suns, with gladdening ray,
Roll on fair spring to chase this wintry day.
Tis yours to bid those days of Eden shine:
First, then, and last, the federal bands entwine:
To this your every aim and effort bend:
Let all your efforts here commence and end.
First, then, and last, the federal bands entwine:
To this your every aim and effort bend:
Let all your efforts here commence and end.
O'er state concerns, let every state preside;
Its private tax controul; its justice guide;
Religion aid; the morals to secure;
And bid each private right thro time endure.
Its private tax controul; its justice guide;
Religion aid; the morals to secure;
And bid each private right thro time endure.
Columbia's interests public sway demand,
Her commerce, impost, unlocated land;
Her war, her peace, her military power;
Treaties to seal with every distant shore;
Her commerce, impost, unlocated land;
Her war, her peace, her military power;
Treaties to seal with every distant shore;
To bid contending states their discord cease;
To send thro all the calumet of peace;
Science to wing thro every noble flight;
And lift desponding genius into light.
To send thro all the calumet of peace;
Science to wing thro every noble flight;
And lift desponding genius into light.
Thro every state to spread each public law,
Interest must animate, and force must awe.
Persuasive dictates realms will ne'er obey;
Sway, uncoercive, is the shade of sway.
Interest must animate, and force must awe.
Persuasive dictates realms will ne'er obey;
Sway, uncoercive, is the shade of sway.
61
Be then your task to alter, aid, amend;
The weak to strengthen, and the rigid bend;
The prurient lop; what's wanted to supply;
And graft new scions from each friendly sky.
The weak to strengthen, and the rigid bend;
The prurient lop; what's wanted to supply;
And graft new scions from each friendly sky.
Slow, by degrees, politic systems rise;
Age still refines them, and experience tries.
This, this alone consolidates, improves;
Their sinews strengthens; their defects removes;
Gives that consistence time alone can give;
Habituates men by law and right to live;
To gray-hair'd rules increasing reverence draws;
And wins the slave to love e'en tyrant laws.
But should Columbia, with distracted eyes,
See o'er her ruins one proud monarch rise;
Should vain partitions her fair realms divide,
And rival empires float on faction's tide;
Lo fix'd opinions 'gainst the fabric rage!
What wars, fierce passions with fierce passions wage!
From Cancer's glowing wilds, to Brunswick's shore,
Hark, how the alarms of civil discord roar!
“To arms,” the trump of kindled warfare cries,
And kindred blood smokes upward to the skies.
As Persia, Greece, so Europe bids her flame,
And smiles with eye malignant, o'er her shame.
Seize then, oh! seize Columbia's golden hour;
Perfect her federal system, public power;
For this stupendous realm, this chosen race,
With all the improvements of all lands its base,
The glorious structure build; its breadth extend;
Its columns lift, its mighty arches bend!
Or freedom, science, arts, its stories shine,
Unshaken pillars of a frame divine;
Far o'er the Atlantic wild its beams aspire,
The world approves it, and the heavens admire;
O'er clouds, and suns, and stars, its splendors rise,
Till the bright top-stone vanish in the skies.”
Age still refines them, and experience tries.
This, this alone consolidates, improves;
Their sinews strengthens; their defects removes;
Gives that consistence time alone can give;
Habituates men by law and right to live;
To gray-hair'd rules increasing reverence draws;
And wins the slave to love e'en tyrant laws.
But should Columbia, with distracted eyes,
See o'er her ruins one proud monarch rise;
Should vain partitions her fair realms divide,
And rival empires float on faction's tide;
Lo fix'd opinions 'gainst the fabric rage!
What wars, fierce passions with fierce passions wage!
From Cancer's glowing wilds, to Brunswick's shore,
Hark, how the alarms of civil discord roar!
“To arms,” the trump of kindled warfare cries,
And kindred blood smokes upward to the skies.
As Persia, Greece, so Europe bids her flame,
And smiles with eye malignant, o'er her shame.
Seize then, oh! seize Columbia's golden hour;
Perfect her federal system, public power;
For this stupendous realm, this chosen race,
With all the improvements of all lands its base,
The glorious structure build; its breadth extend;
Its columns lift, its mighty arches bend!
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Unshaken pillars of a frame divine;
Far o'er the Atlantic wild its beams aspire,
The world approves it, and the heavens admire;
O'er clouds, and suns, and stars, its splendors rise,
Till the bright top-stone vanish in the skies.”
| [Poems by Dwight in] American poems, selected and original | |