 | The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer |  |
119
FREEDOM'S OAK.
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS.
They landed not a bannered host
Eager the battle-shock to brave,
Upon a rude and rocky coast
Lashed by the moaning wintry wave.
Eager the battle-shock to brave,
Upon a rude and rocky coast
Lashed by the moaning wintry wave.
No hungering desire for gain
Far, far away lured son and sire
From pleasant homes beyond the main,
Cheered by church-bell and village spire.
Far, far away lured son and sire
From pleasant homes beyond the main,
Cheered by church-bell and village spire.
Frail ones to hardship uninured,
Maid, wife, and grandam, bowed and pale,
Without complaining word endured
The buffet of the freezing gale.
Maid, wife, and grandam, bowed and pale,
Without complaining word endured
The buffet of the freezing gale.
They recked not, though the beast of prey
By night was on his bloody walk,
And prowled the red man forth to slay,
Armed with his murderous tomahawk.
By night was on his bloody walk,
And prowled the red man forth to slay,
Armed with his murderous tomahawk.
Oh! higher, holier motives far
Than painful quest of golden sand,
Or love of desolating war,
Nerved to high deed that little band!
Than painful quest of golden sand,
Or love of desolating war,
Nerved to high deed that little band!
What brought they to a wild remote?
Stern hearts that danger could not quell—
The zeal with which a Milton wrote,
The creed for which a Hampden fell.
Stern hearts that danger could not quell—
The zeal with which a Milton wrote,
The creed for which a Hampden fell.
120
Clad in coarse, pilgrim garb, they came
To give a mighty empire birth,
And kindled up an altar-flame
That lights the gloom of guilty earth.
To give a mighty empire birth,
And kindled up an altar-flame
That lights the gloom of guilty earth.
On them devolved a mighty task—
They robbed the bigot of his cowl,
And wrenched from tyranny the mask
That curtained features black and foul.
They robbed the bigot of his cowl,
And wrenched from tyranny the mask
That curtained features black and foul.
An acorn in the soil by them
Was sown beneath a frowning sky,
From which an oak of giant stem
Grew up, and tossed its boughs on high.
Was sown beneath a frowning sky,
From which an oak of giant stem
Grew up, and tossed its boughs on high.
Gashed victims of the greedy sword,
While thunder shook the conflict-ground,
The best blood of their hearts have poured
Its firm, extending roots around.
While thunder shook the conflict-ground,
The best blood of their hearts have poured
Its firm, extending roots around.
And now, beneath its guardian shade,
When hunted from their native shore,
Gather thy wronged, oh Earth! afraid
Of quest-hounds on the track no more.
When hunted from their native shore,
Gather thy wronged, oh Earth! afraid
Of quest-hounds on the track no more.
Then honored be those Pilgrims old,
Who planted well that noble tree,
While springs a blossom from the mould,
Or roll the waters of the sea!
Who planted well that noble tree,
While springs a blossom from the mould,
Or roll the waters of the sea!
Proud of descent from such a stock
Let gratitude our bosoms warm,
And ever hallowed be the Rock
On which they landed in the storm!
Let gratitude our bosoms warm,
And ever hallowed be the Rock
On which they landed in the storm!
| The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer | |