Water-drops :: :: University of Virginia Library

A distinguished guest, on this occasion, remarks:—“The dinner,
of which more than 800, principally Alumni, partook, was under a
spacious and beautiful tent, on a verdant lawn, behind the old College
edifice, once alternately occupied by the British and American
armies. This festival was conducted entirely without spirituous or
fermented beverage. Toasts drank in pure water, or lemonade, and
a series of enlivening addresses, gave exhilaration and enthusiasm
to the memorable scene.”

An hundred years have sown
The rose-cup, and the thorn,
And more than thirty thousand days
Diffused the light of morn,—
And in their mighty cradle slept,
Since Old Nassau was born.
Look to yon tented lawn,
Enrobed in glorious green,
Where winds the long procession on
Amid the classic scene,—
And birthday melodies arise
As to a crowned queen.

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She hath no hoary hair,
No dimness marks her eye,
Her children cluster round her side
As when her youth was high,—
And at the festal board she pours
The nectar of the sky.
Such nectar as the Sun
Exhales in crystal tears,
And filters through the silvery cloud,
The fruitful earth that cheers,—
So, here's a health to Old Nassau
For another hundred years.